Stock market news live: Wall Street turns mixed; USMCA trade deal passes Senate – Yahoo Finance

Domestic stocks marched higher Thursday amid lingering optimism after the U.S. signed a preliminary trade deal with China.

11:50 a.m. ET: New US-Canada-Mexico trade accord passes Senate

In a move that defines the polarized times The U.S. Senate has just passed the successor agreement to NAFTA — handing President Donald Trump a legislative victory on a signature issue the very same day lawmakers are set to begin deliberating on his impeachment. Stocks have been on a tear since the opening bell, setting new record highs despite the uncertainty.

Here were the main moves in markets, as of noon ET:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): +0.54% or +17.91 points to 3,307.20

• Dow (^DJI): +0.61% or +176.83 points to 29,207.05

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): +0.64% or +59.51 points to 9,318.38

• Crude oil (CL=F): +1.61% or +$0.93 to $58.74 a barrel

• Gold (GC=F): -0.20% or -$3.10 to $1,550.90 per ounce

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10:50 a.m. Q4 data ‘pretty good’ but downside risk to growth: JPMorgan

This weeks’ batch of retail, jobless and manufacturing data looked “pretty good” according to JPMorgan Chase’s Michael Feroli, but with a caveat or two:

 We now see some downside risk to our 2.0% GDP call for Q4. After two very strong quarters, it looks like the consumer took a bit of a breather last quarter. That said, the consumer fundamentals appear to remain solid. In particular, the labor market continues to look healthy and that was validated in this morning’s jobless claims number.

Feroli also pointed out that the December spike in initial claims was spillover from an “unusually late Thanksgiving playing havoc” with seasonal factors. “In [any] event, claims have now retraced all of that move higher,” he added.

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10:09 a.m. ET: Tesla stock falls after Morgan Stanley downgrade

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) paced toward a second straight session of declines after Morgan Stanley delivered a bearish rating on the stock. Shares fell 3.6% to below $500 each during intraday trading.

Analyst Adam Jonas cut his rating on Tesla to Underweight, or analogous to a Sell rating, from Equal-weight in a new note. However, he also raised his price target to $360 from $250 in the wake of the stock’s recent appreciation. Shares of Tesla have more than doubled since delivering third-quarter results in October, which included a surprise profit.

By Jonas’s measure, Tesla already has optimism around its new business in China priced into the stock. He suggested there would be more attractive entry points to owning the stock in the future.

The call added to bearish sentiment after a report Wednesday showed the car-maker’s overall vehicle registrations almost halved in California during the fourth-quarter.

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9:34 a.m. ET: S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq hit all-time highs

All three major indices climbed to record highs Thursday around the market open, buoyed by optimism after the U.S. inked a trade deal with China and earnings for major companies including Morgan Stanley (MS) topped expectations.

Within the Dow, Microsoft (MSFT), American Express (AXP) and Visa (V) also each hit all-time highs Thursday.

Here were the main moves in markets, as of 9:36 a.m. ET:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): +0.54% or +17.6 points to 3,306.89

• Dow (^DJI): +0.55% or +160.56 points to 29,190.78

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): +0.61% or +56.79 points to 9,315.75

• Crude oil (CL=F): +0.59% or +$0.34 to $58.15 a barrel

• Gold (GC=F): -0.02% or -$0.30 to $1,553.70 per ounce

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8:30 a.m. ET: Retail sales rise 0.3% in December, matching expectations

Headline retail sales rose by an expected 0.3% in December, according to the Commerce Department’s advance monthly report. This matched November’s upwardly revised pace.

Headline retail sales were weighed down by weak automobile sales, which fell 1.3% from November. Excluding auto sales, retail sales rose 0.7%, greater than the 0.5% rise expected, according to Bloomberg-compiled consensus data. Excluding auto and gas sales, retail sales rose 0.5% after a 0.2% decline in November.

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8:30 a.m. ET: Initial unemployment claims claims unexpectedly fall for week ended January 11

In another sign of strength in the labor market, weekly new unemployment claims unexpectedly declined during the week ended January 11, the Department of Labor said Thursday.

Initial unemployment claims fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 204,000 for the week ended January 11. Consensus economists had expected weekly unemployment claims to rise to 218,000, according to Bloomberg consensus data.