Major US stock indexes ended trading in positive territory

Major US stock indexes rose, helped by the rise in prices of shares of technological and industrial companies after the US president promised to postpone the increase in tariffs for Chinese imports. The market received additional support from reports of large transactions in the corporate segment.

On Sunday evening, Trump announced in a series of messages on Twitter that the United States plans to postpone the introduction of additional tariffs on Chinese goods, which were supposed to take effect in early March. In his posts, he referred to “substantial progress” in bilateral negotiations between the two largest economies in the world, including the protection of intellectual property and the transfer of technology, agriculture and currency. As a result, the president said that he would delay new tariffs, but he did not specify a new date.

In addition, speaking at the White House this morning, Trump said he was optimistic that a final trade agreement could be concluded with China, and that he plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to conclude a deal, but warned that the parties still may not reach an agreement. According to him, both sides are “very, very close” to a deal.

Trump's statements were perceived by the market as a clear signal that both parties would conclude a deal that would end a lengthy trade dispute that led to a slowdown in global growth and caused damage to the markets.

Optimism also added a message that as General Electric (GE) sells its biopharmaceutical business to Danaher for $ 21.4 billion. The news of the deal pushed GE shares up more than 6%. Meanwhile, Barrick Gold (GOLD) announced that they had made an offer for Newmont Mining to buy for $ 17.8 billion. If the deal goes through, it will create the world's largest gold producer.

Regarding macroeconomic data, the Ministry of Commerce reported that wholesale inventories rose 1.1 percent in December, after rising 0.4 percent in November (revised from +0.3 percent). Economists had expected stocks to grow by 0.3 percent. More than expected, the increase in wholesale stocks fell to stocks of durable goods, which increased by 1.5 percent in December after increasing by 0.7 percent in November. Meanwhile, wholesale sales fell 1.0 percent in December after falling 1.2 percent in November. Due to a sharp increase in stocks and falling sales, the ratio of stocks to sales for wholesalers rose to 1.33 in December from 1.30 in November.

Most of the components of DOW finished trading in positive territory (20 of 30). The growth leader was DowDuPont Inc. (DWDP, + 2.37%). The Walt Disney Co. shares turned out to be an outsider. (DIS; -1.31%).

Almost all sectors of the S & P recorded an increase. The industrial goods sector grew the most (+ 0.7%). Only the utilities sector decreased (-0.7%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 26,091.95 +60.14 +0.23%

S & P 500 2,796.11 +3.44 + 0.12%

Nasdaq 100 7,554.46 +26.91 +0.36%