· S&P 500, Nasdaq gain on Nvidia, White House stock incentive report
The S&P 500 ended modestly higher on Friday following strong earnings from Nvidia and a report late in the session that the White House was considering a tax incentive for Americans to buy stocks.
Uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus epidemic and downbeat economic data had put a damper on investor sentiment for much of the day.
In economic news, lackluster retail sales and industrial production data appeared to justify the U.S. Federal Reserve’s wait-and-see stance regarding its accommodative monetary policy, reiterated by Fed Chair Jerome Powell earlier this week in Washington.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 25.23 points, or 0.09%, to 29,398.08, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 6.22 points, or 0.18%, to 3,380.16 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 19.21 points, or 0.2%, to 9,731.18.
· Nikkei falls 1.3% as Japan’s GDP declines much worse than expected
Asia Pacific markets declined Monday morning as government data showed Japan’s economy contracted in the previous quarter for the first time in more than a year.
Japanese shares led losses, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 down 1.34% and the Topix index off by 1.44%.
Cabinet Office data revealed the Japanese economy shrunk at an annualized pace of 6.3% in the three months that ended in December. Analysts in a Reuters poll were predicting an annual decline of 3.7%. On-quarter, GDP fell 1.6%.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dipped 0.34% as the heavily weighted financial subindex declined 0.84%. South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.47%.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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