Tech Shares Power U.S. Stocks Higher
November 25 2019 - 1:21PM
Dow Jones News
By Caitlin Ostroff and Akane Otani
U.S. stocks climbed toward records Monday, buoyed by a rally in
shares of technology companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 126 points, or 0.5%, to
28001. The S&P 500 added 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced
1.2%, with both indexes heading toward fresh closing highs.
Stocks around the world got a boost after Chinese officials
called for speeding up the introduction of penalties and punitive
action for infringement of patents and copyrights in a document
released Sunday. The U.S. has indicated it wants clearer assurances
that China will follow through on the commitments it has made on
the issue, and on others such as agricultural purchases, before
negotiators will travel to Beijing for a new round of talks for a
"phase one" trade deal.
"People think China is willing to make concessions," said Lewis
Grant, a portfolio manager at Hermès Investment Management. "It
shows a willingness on China's part to come to the table and keep
talking."
Optimism on trade sent investors out of gold, which tends to
gain favor when money managers are feeling more uncertain about the
growth outlook. The precious metal fell 0.4% to $1,457 a troy
ounce.
Riskier assets such as stocks rallied, with shares of technology
companies among the biggest gainers in the U.S.
Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia rose 1.8% and 4.1%,
respectively. The semiconductor firms' shares have often fallen
when investors have gotten more nervous about U.S.-China trade
tensions and rebounded on signs of progress between Beijing and
Washington.
Doubts about the U.S. and China's ability to reach an agreement
on trade have driven volatility throughout global markets this
year, although major U.S. indexes have nevertheless managed to
climb double-digit percentages in 2019.
A flurry of deal-making activity also drove swings among
individual stocks Monday.
Tiffany shares added 6% after LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
said it reached an agreement to buy the U.S. jeweler for more than
$16 billion. LVMH shares gained 2% in Paris.
Charles Schwab rose 1.3% after it agreed to buy smaller rival TD
Ameritrade Holding in a stock-swap transaction valued at about $26
billion. TD Ameritrade shares climbed 6.7%.
EBay shares jumped 1.2% after the e-commerce company said it
agreed to sell its StubHub ticketing business to a
Switzerland-based firm, Viagogo.
In the U.K., the pound rose 0.4% against the U.S. dollar as the
Conservative Party maintained a lead in weekend opinion polls after
unveiling its manifesto for the Dec. 12 general elections. Prime
Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday made a series of spending pledges
and ruled out increases in income tax. The FTSE 100 index advanced
0.9%.
The market is starting to anticipate that the Conservative
Party, which has avoided taking any extreme positions in its
manifesto, will win a majority in the elections, Hermès Investment
Management's Mr. Grant said.
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1%, led by gains
in the basic resources and travel and leisure sectors.
Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com and Akane
Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2019 13:06 ET (18:06 GMT)
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