Major US stock indexes finished trading with an increase

Major US stock indices rose slightly on the first day of an eventful week. The market was supported by favorable consumer spending data, as well as hopes for resolving a trade dispute with China, solid corporate reporting and maintaining the dovish position of the Fed.

As the report of the Ministry of Commerce showed, consumer spending in the US rose to a maximum in nine and a half years in March, but price pressure remained muffled, and a key inflation indicator showed the smallest annual increase in 14 months. According to the report, consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity in the United States, rose by 0.9% as households stepped up car purchases and began to spend more on health care. Consumer spending rose 0.1% in February. At the same time, inflation pressure in March was mild. The personal consumption price index (PCE) excluding volatile food and energy components, which is the preferred indicator of the Fed's inflation, did not change in March, after rising 0.1% in February. This reduced the annual growth of the so-called basic price index PCE to 1.6%, the smallest increase since January 2018, from 1.7% in February, increasing the likelihood of the Fed keeping the “pigeon” position on interest rates at the next regulator meeting, the results of which will be announced on Wednesday .

Market participants also continued to closely monitor the course of trade negotiations between the US and China. As reported by The New York Times, on Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing are entering the final stage. “We are entering the home straight,” he said in an interview with the publication. “I think both sides have a desire to reach an agreement,” he added. “We have made great progress.”

As expected, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin will resume trade negotiations with China in Beijing tomorrow.

About 160 S & P 500 companies plan to publish their quarterly results this week, including such giants as Alphabet (GOOG), General Motors (GM), General Electric (GE), Merck (MRK), Pfizer (PFE), McDonald's (MCD), Apple (AAPL) and DowDuPont (DWDP). According to Refinitiv, analysts now expect that the profits of the S & P 500 companies in the last quarter will show a decrease of only 0.2% y / y, which is a dramatic improvement compared with a 2% y / y decline predicted at the beginning of the month.

Most of the components of DOW finished trading in positive territory (16 of 30). The growth leader was the shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (GS; + 2.15%). Intel Corp shares were an outsider. (INTC; -2.60%).

Almost all sectors of the S & P recorded an increase. The sector of conglomerates grew the most (+ 3.6%). The largest decline was shown by the utility sector (-0.4%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 26,554.25 +10.92 +0.04%

S & P 500 2,943.03 +3.15 +0.11%

Nasdaq 100 8,161.85 +15.46 +0.19%