Stocks close higher ahead of Trump-Xi meeting at G-20
U.S. stocks rebounded from early session losses Friday to close higher as investors gauged prospects for a positive outcome from the planned meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20.
The day's gains meant that stocks had their best week since 2016.
The Saturday dinner meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina is expected to focus on tariffs being placed by Trump on Chinese goods. Such tariffs are blamed for higher prices on consumer goods for Americans.
Shares rose after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he would be surprised if the meeting between Trump and Xi “wasn’t a success" but then gave up those gains in afternoon trading.
Crude oil prices, which have taken a beating lately on worries about a global oversupply, fell to nearlyi $50 per barrel.
In Asian markets on Friday, China’s Shanghai Composite ended the day up 0.8 percent, gaining 0.3 percent for the week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.2 percent at the close and higher by 2.2 percent for the week. Japan’s Nikkei average closed the day gaining 0.4 percent, adding 3.3 percent for the week.
In Europe, London’s FTSE closed down, Germany’s DAX slipped and France’s CAC fell.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 44296.51 | +426.16 | +0.97% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5969.34 | +20.63 | +0.35% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 19003.651134 | +31.23 | +0.16% |
On Thursday, U.S. stocks finished lower after an afternoon rally faded. Banks and technology companies fell after the market pulled off a huge rally the day before when Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell suggested in a speech that the Fed might be almost done raising interest rates, and is willing to stop raising rates at least temporarily so it can assess the effects of the last few years of increases.
The S&P 500 index shed 0.2 percent to 2,737.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.1 percent lower at 25,338.84. The Nasdaq composite slid 0.3 percent to 7,273.08 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 0.3 percent to 1,525.39.
Economic news was mixed Thursday. The government said U.S. consumers spent the most in seven months during October. Spending jumped 0.6 percent as households paid more on prescription drugs and utilities, topping expectations of 0.4 percent.
Personal incomes increased 0.5 percent, the largest gain since January, and jobless claims last week jumped to a 10-month high and was more than expected.
Personal incomes increased 0.5 percent, the largest gain since January.
Another report showed weekly jobless claims rose for a third week.
First-time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 last week, the highest amount since mid-May.