NEW YORK, Nov 27 — Wall Street indices added to records early today following better-than-expected data on US growth and durable goods orders.
US growth was revised up to 2.1 per cent in the third quarter, a bit better than the 1.9 per cent in the prior report. Orders for durable goods also topped expectations.
US stocks closed at records yesterday for the second day in a row, an uptick fed by optimism over US-China trade talks and hopes for the holiday shopping season.
However, about 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down a hair at 28,115.78.
But the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent to 3,144.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 per cent to 8,671.65.
The latest economic reports “are supportive in the sense that they all feed into the notion that the US economy is not on the cusp of a recession,” Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said.
With investors poised for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving holiday and a shortened session on Friday, today will be the last full day of trading this week.
Among individual companies, Boeing fell 1.1 per cent after its 777X suffered significant problems during testing overseen by US aviation inspectors, raising new questions about a key aircraft under development.
Boeing remains under scrutiny over the 737 MAX, which remains grounded after two fatal crashes.
Deere & Company slumped 4.0 per cent as it reported an eight per cent drop in fourth-quarter profit to US$722 million.
The company said trade war uncertainty and difficult harvesting conditions had dented farmer orders of new equipment. — AFP
