Stock market news: November 15, 2019 – Yahoo Finance

Each of the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq closed at record highs, ending the week on a high note after a senior Trump administration official said a trade deal with China was nearing and domestic economic data mostly topped expectations.

The Dow cleared 28,000 points for the first time ever, led by gains in shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) as the health-care sector as whole surged. The 30-stock index was higher on the week for a fourth consecutive week.

Here’s where the markets settled Friday:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): +0.77%, or 23.73 points

• Dow (^DJI): +0.8%, or 222.18 points

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): +0.73%, or 61.81 points

• 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX): +1.9 bps to 1.834%

• Gold (GC=F): -0.43% to $1,467.00 per ounce

The Dow reaching the “psychologically important 28,000 level is yet another sign that investors are regaining confidence in the pending trade truce with China” and are continuing with “confidence in a U.S. economy that is growing at a stable pace,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, wrote in an email to Yahoo Finance.

“In absence of any major, negative news on trade, the market is poised to begin the Santa Claus rally early and should leave markets even higher by year end,” he added.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters after an event late Thursday in Washington that a trade deal with China was close but “not done yet,” according to a Bloomberg report on his remarks. But Kudlow added that deliberations were “coming down to the short strokes,” and that the two sides have been in communication every day.

Conflicting messages over progress in a trade deal have sent tremors through markets this week, although stocks have so far pushed through these jitters to fresh record highs. Earlier in the week, multiple reports suggested talks between the U.S. and China had snagged on debates over the size of China’s annual U.S. farm goods purchases, and whether the U.S. would roll back its punitive tariffs on Chinese imports.

Elsewhere, continued unrest in Hong Kong, as protestors blanket the region in increasingly violent demonstrations, has led to downward revisions for economic growth. Hong Kong now expects to see gross domestic product contract by 1.3% in 2019 over last year, the government said Friday. In the three months ended September, GDP contracted by 3.2% on a quarterly basis.

The protests spurred a rare public response from Chinese President Xi Jinping, who backed support for Hong Kong’s police force and condemned the pro-democracy protestors. Beijing will “firmly support the Hong Kong judicial bodies in severely punishing the violent criminals in accordance with the law,” he said in remarks Thursday, according to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua.

The surge in violence led members of the U.S. Senate on Thursday to tee up an expedited process to pass legislation that would support pro-democracy protestors, with a bill potentially able to pass as soon as next week. The legislation would require that the State Department determine at least once per year that the region – a major global financial hub – retained enough autonomy from China to justify its special trade status with the U.S. A related bill passed the House of Representatives last month.

EARNINGS: Nvidia posts strong 3Q results but weak guidance, J.C. Penney raises outlook

Nvidia (NVDA) delivered better than expected third-quarter results after market close Thursday, with a year-over-year sales decline coming in less steeply than anticipated as demand for the company’s flagship gaming chips improved. Third-quarter adjusted earnings were $1.78 per share on revenue of $3.01 billion, topping expectations for $1.55 a share on revenue of $2.91 billion.

For the current quarter, Nvidia sees revenue of $2.95 billion, plus or minus 2%. Even at the high end, this fell short of consensus expectations for $3.07 billion in sales. Nevertheless, the company said it is anticipating “strong sequential growth” in its data center chip business, even as its graphic gaming chips and components tend to see seasonal weakness in its fiscal fourth quarter.