- Stocks rise steadily on the back of strong China data
- Trade hopes felt as S&P 500 notches best quarter
- China and U.S. trade talks finish the final trading day on a heightened note
- The Dow and Nasdaq both show gains in the market
Monday saw stocks rise sharply as strong manufacturing information out of U.S. and China led to a relaxed environment and dispelled fears of a global economic slowdown.
S&P 500 has posted the best quarterly ups since 2009, encouraged by the good returns over the recent trade talks between the United States and China as U.S. stocks finished the final trading day of the first quarter on a strong note on Friday.
The two factions said progress was made in the trade negotiations that ended on Friday in Beijing. The main aim of the meeting was to resolve a nine-month trade disparity between the two largest economies and were termed by Washington as “candid and constructive.”
Vice Premier Liu Will Attend Trade Talks in Washington
A delegation headed by Vice Premier Liu for the Chinese Government will go to Washington this week for another round of talks.
“The prospect of the trade war ending in the very near term is giving a boost to investor confidence, and in turn, we’re closing the quarter with some pretty good gains,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
The Dow Makes Gains
The Dow rose 300 points, topping 26,000 on returns in the United Technologies and Goldman Sachs.
Chipmakers, which possess the highest revenue exposure to China, also had a rise with the Philadelphia chip index up 1.6 percent whereas trade sensitive industrials rose 1 percent.
The S&P 500 elevated by 1 percent as the financial sector outperformed. The Nasdaq finished 1.2 percent higher on trades from Amazon, Alphabet, Netflix, and Facebook.
The three major indexes posted gains of at least 1 percent each at the beginning of the week and registered hikes for the month as well.
The stock ended 8.7 up percent after ride-hailing startup Lyft Inc heightened for more than 20 percent after making its presence on the Nasdaq.
U.S. consumer spending rose barely in January from data released on Monday and income increased gradually in February, suggesting the economy was losing momentum after growth slowed in the fourth quarter.
Growth fears were triggered last week, when the Federal Reserve abandoned projections for interest rate hikes in 2019 and the U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007, historically a harbinger of recession.
