NEW YORK, Jan 16 — Wall Street stocks jumped early today, adding to records following the signing of a US-China trade accord and solid US retail sales data.
Analysts generally view the US-China deal as removing the near-term risk of an escalation between the two economic powers, even though there is scepticism it will resolve issues between the countries.
The Senate later today is expected to approve a new trade accord between the United States, Mexico and Canada, another benign trade development that has boosted sentiment.
Retail sales for December rose 0.3 per cent as US consumers continued to spend freely through the key holiday shopping season.
About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 29,178.52, up 0.5 per cent.
The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 0.5 per cent, rising to 3,305.00, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index won 0.7 per cent, moving up to 9,326.33.
The Dow and S&P 500 both closed at records yesterday.
Among individual companies, Morgan Stanley gained 5.7 per cent as fourth-quarter earnings easily topped expectations, making it the latest large financial group to report good results.
Among other companies reporting results, PPG Industries lost 3.7 per cent and Alcoa 7.9 per cent. — AFP
