Wall Street rose on Friday with help from positive comments from Washington and Beijing about progress on efforts to reach a US-China trade deal, and from upbeat domestic economic data.
US President Donald Trump told Fox News that a trade deal was “potentially very close” following remarks by President Xi Jinping (習近平) that Beijing wanted to work out an initial agreement.
“It’s tied back to the on-again, off-again narrative that’s been the consistent theme regarding a potential trade deal with China. Our President says we’re on today so the market’s responding accordingly,” said Mike Loewengart, vice president for investment strategy at E*Trade Financial Corp in New York.
However, investors were also showing skepticism as the situation in Hong Kong added complexity, he said.
Meanwhile, the latest economic data underscored a resilient domestic economy as US manufacturing output accelerated this month to its fastest pace in seven months and services activity picked up more than expected.
However, benchmark S&P 500 index snapped its six-week winning streak, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ saw its first weekly drop in eight weeks. A largely better-than-expected third-quarter corporate earnings season had also contributed to the recent rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 109.33 points, or 0.39 percent, to 27,875.62. The S&P 500 gained 6.75 points, or 0.22 percent, to 3,110.29 and the NASDAQ Composite added 13.67 points, or 0.16 percent, to 8,519.88.
For the week the Dow lost 0.46 percent, the S&P fell 0.33 percent and the NASDAQ shed 0.25 percent.
Nordstrom Inc jumped 10.64 percent after the retailer raised its forecast for this year and reported third-quarter profit above expectations.
Gap Inc shares were up 4.44 percent after it beat lowered quarterly profit estimates days after the retailer cut its annual forecast and replaced its longtime chief executive officer Art Peck.
Shares of Tesla Inc fell 6.14 percent as Wall Street questioned the look of its newly unveiled electric pickup truck, whose “armored glass” windows shattered in a demonstration.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.69-to-1 ratio; on NASDAQ, a 1.47-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the NASDAQ Composite recorded 49 new highs and 73 new lows.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
H200 CHIPS: A source said that Nvidia has asked the Taiwanese company to begin production of additional chips and work is expected to start in the second quarter Nvidia Corp is scrambling to meet demand for its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Chinese technology companies and has approached contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to ramp up production, sources said. Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips for this year, while Nvidia holds just 700,000 units in stock, two of the people said. The exact additional volume Nvidia intends to order from TSMC remains unclear, they said. A third source said that Nvidia has asked TSMC to begin production of the additional chips and work is expected to start in the second
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
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