Major US stock indexes finished trading in positive territory

The main US stock indices increased moderately on Tuesday, reaching record highs, mainly due to the rise in price of financial and industrial shares against the background of the fact that the hurricane Irma has weakened to the level of a tropical storm.

Investors' attention was also focused on Apple's presentation event (AAPL), during which it introduced a new line of iPhone, which included three phones - the iPhone 8, the iPhone 8 Plus and the "jubilee" iPhone X.

In addition, as shown by the survey of vacancies and labor turnover (JOLTS), published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the US, in July the number of vacancies increased to 6.17 million, updating a record high. The indicator for June was revised to 6.116 million from 6.163 million. Analysts had expected the number of vacancies to decrease to 5.96 million. The vacancy rate was 4.0%, unchanged from June. The number of vacancies has changed little in the private sector, and declined in the government segment (-58,000). As for the branches, the number of vacancies increased most in the sector of other services (+111,000), transport, warehousing and utilities (+70,000), and in the educational services (+26,000). The reduction in the number of vacancies was recorded in the health and social assistance sector (-62,000), state and local authorities, with the exception of education (-46,000), and the federal government (-21,000).

Oil prices rose slightly, receiving support from OPEC statements that its production declined in August. This situation indicates that the production reduction pact helps to reduce the volume of supplies. In its monthly report, OPEC also raised the demand forecast for 2018 and stated that the two hurricanes that hit the United States in recent weeks will have a "minor" impact on demand. Meanwhile, the report indicated that the oil output of the 14 OPEC member countries fell by 79,000 barrels per day in July compared to July, to 32.76 million barrels per day, which is lower than the demand forecast.

Most components of the DOW index recorded a rise (20 out of 30). Leader of growth were the shares of Pfizer Inc. (PFE, + 3.09%). Outsider were shares of McDonald's Corporation (MCD, -3.30%).

Almost all sectors of the S & P index finished trading in positive territory. The financial sector grew most (+ 0.6%). The most significant decline was in the utilities sector (-1.6%).

At closing:

DJIA + 0.28% 22,118.86 +61.49

Nasdaq + 0.34% 6,454.28 +22.02

S & P + 0.34% 2,496.48 +8.37