U.S. stocks rose Wednesday as U.S. trade negotiators reported to Bloomberg that they expect a phase one deal with China to be completed before more tariffs on Chinese goods are set to take effect in less than two weeks. The date of the expected trade deal has yet to surface.
Here's how the stock market closed Monday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
In U.S. Economic News, the Institute for Supply Management's report on non-manufacturing activity showed a decline in activity for November when compared to October. The report's PMI gave a reading of 53.9 in November, which is a drop from October's 54.7 and short from the expected reading of 54.5 for the month. Management of Companies & Support Services issued a statement to the institute that summed up the decline across industries: "Tariffs are impacting prices for a broad array of products used in the delivery of service and completion of projects for our clients. Upward pressure is impacting suppliers and their pricing to customers. We are seeing no relief from our customers, so we're being negatively impacted by tariff-driven price increases. Numerous suppliers report looking for alternative manufacturing/supply location outside of China, but with limited or no success so far."
In U.S. Stock Sector News, all but Materials, with a loss of -0.04%, saw stock share gains in the current market. The gains list includes: Energy +1.57%, Financials +0.99%, Health Care +0.91%, Utilities +0.72%, Consumer Staples +0.66%, Communication Services +0.64%, Real Estate +0.60%, Consumer Discretionary +0.41%, Information Technology +0.35%, and Industrials +0.33%.
Finally, in Commodity and Currency News, oil prices have made substantial gains Wednesday with West Texas Intermediate's barrel prices increasing almost +3.60% and Brent Crude's prices almost breaking a rise of +3%. The rally today came from two factors that increased prices. First, the U.S. Energy Information Administration published a report on storage levels that showed a decline of 4.9 million barrels, which is much higher that the 1.7 million drop analysts expected. Second, members of OPEC are meeting this week to discuss production levels. Market participants are expecting the meeting to result in a cut in output to help reduce the oil market's current oversupply. Gold, on the other hand, is dropping in price on Wednesday, with the commodity's price per ounce declining over -0.20%. Finally, the U.S. Dollar is continued its decline for the week, with the DXY Index slumping over -0.10%.
