Despite another mixed trading day, the S&P 500 climbed to a new record closing high Thursday. After the Dow's record closing yesterday, shares of the component Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) brought the index down slightly. Stocks were affected Thursday by a report that U.S. and Chinese officials were having difficulty finalizing a phase one trade deal.
Here's how the U.S. markets closed Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (SPY): +0.08% or 2.59 points
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA): -0.01% or -1.63 points
Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ): -0.04% or -3.08 points
In Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's second day of congressional testimony, Powell underscored the "favorable' outlook for the U.S. economy as data came in better than expected in recent weeks. Powell also submitted identical prepared remarks to both the House Committee on the Budget and the Joint Economic Committee.
JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) economist Michael Feroli wrote in a note Wednesday that "while Powell didn't change the message for the last FOMC meeting, he did add a few details...[Powell used his speech to bring a] discussion of the need for fiscal policy to support the economy in the next downturn, given monetary policy's now-limited scope to provide such support." Feroli went on to write: "While the executive branch has been preemptively blaming the Fed for any potential future economic slowdown, [yesterday] the Fed preemptively requested policy support from the legislative branch in the event of such a slowdown."
In Economy News, producer prices in the U.S. increased more than expected in October. According to the Labor Department, the headline producer price index (PPI) rose 0.4% from September's reading. This is greater than the economist expected rise of 0.3% and is the fasted gain in six months. Initial jobless claims rose more than expected for last week, with the rate reaching a five-month high. Across the pond, Germany, which is the largest economy in the eurozone, grew slightly +0.1% in the third quarter. Despite the slow rate, this reading helped the country avoid a technical recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
In Stock Sector News, many sectors have pared their recent losses in trading this week. Those who saw increases today include Real Estate +0.84%, Materials +0.49%, Consumer Discretionary +0.35%, Communication Services +0.30%, Industrials +0.25%, Utilities +0.23%, and Financials +0.09%. Those who experienced slight declines in trading today include Energy -0.29%, Consumer Staples -0.13%, Information Technology -0.13%, and Health care -0.07%.
Finally, in Commodity and Currency News, oil prices continue to fall into Friday. West Texas Intermediate is steadily falling, with the prices dropping over -0.84 percent. Brent Crude is on a similar decline, with prices losing yesterday's gains and slipping around -0.45%. In recent trends surrounding the trade war, the price of gold increased today following the news of U.S. and China struggling to reach a cohesive deal. The metal's price increased over +0.53%. Lastly, the U.S. Dollar has continued its decline Thursday, with the DXY Index lowering around -0.18%.