The U.S. stock market pared the short streak of losses it experienced this week on Friday, with all three major indexes inching into the positive territory. According to Bloomberg, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he wants to come to a phase one trade agreement with the U.S. as long as the deal is on the "basis of mutual respect and equality."
Here's how the market closed for the week:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
President Donald Trump added to the conversation of U.S. and China moving in the right direction regarding a trade agreement in writing. During an interview on Friday, Trump said that the two sides were very close to the end and have a "very good chance to make the deal." Trump however took umbrage with Xi's use of the word "equality," because he feels the U.S. is "starting off from the floor" and China is "already at the ceiling" from the $500 billion a year Beijing receives from the U.S.
In U.S. Economic News, according to a Friday report from IHS Markit, U.S. business activity improved in both manufacturing and service sectors in November. The flash manufacturing PMI rose 52.2 for the month, which was above the 51.4 expectations and up from October's report of 51.3. The services PMI improved by one point from October's reading of 50.6. The expectations for November were 51.0. Together, the composite PMI for private sector output for November read 51.9, which is up from October's 50.9, reporting a four-month high.
In Stock Sector News, most sectors made gains to close out the week. Those who saw share increases today include Financials +0.76%, Consumer Discretionary +0.65%, Industrials +0.54%, Health Care +0.40%, Materials +0.15%, Communication Services +0.13%, and Utilities +0.03%. The others that saw share losses today include Real Estate -0.54%, Energy -0.35%, Consumer Staples -0.14%, and Information Technology -0.12%.
Finally, In Commodity and Currency News, oil prices lost some of the gains they raised yesterday, with West Texas Intermediate
