US stocks trade higher as recession worries fade

Source:Xinhua Published: 2019/8/17 1:29:31

US stocks traded higher on Friday, approaching the end of the week in a positive note, as the market appeared somewhat relieved by rebounds in yields of long-dated US treasury bills, which alleviated investors' worries over a potential recession.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 281.83 points, or 1.10 percent, to 25,861.22. The S&P 500 increased 39.49 points, or 1.39 percent, to 2,887.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index rallied 122.89 points, or 1.58 percent, to 7,889.51.

Most of the 30 blue-chip stocks in the Dow extended gains, with shares of JPMorgan Chase and 3M up over 2.4 percent and over 2.3 percent respectively, among the best performers.

Shares of Nvidia rose nearly 5.8 percent, after the US tech giant reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded market estimates, owing to demand for specific graphics chips for video games.

All of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded higher around midday, with the financials sector up nearly 1.9 percent, leading the gainers.

The yields of long-term US treasury notes have been on the rise during morning sessions, with yield of the 10-year bill's up to over 1.56 percent, widening its gap with the around 1.5 percent of the 2-year note around midday. The yield of the 30-year note also rallied.

Meanwhile, the market has been supported since Thursday by some upbeat data, including reports of strong consumer spending in July.

US consumers' spending has remained robust, as retail and food services sales rose 0.7 percent to 523.5 billion US dollars in July, following an increase of 0.3 percent in June, said US Census Bureau on Thursday.

Such gains were shown in various sectors last month, including online retail, grocery stores, clothing retail and electronics and appliance stores.

Posted in: AMERICAS

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