[New York Close] Strength Amid Phase 1 US-China Trade Agreement Impact

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The US-China trade agreement has once again lifted the New York stock market. However, the rise was limited as it was already a well-anticipated factor.

On the 15th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 90.55 points (0.31%) from the previous day to close at 29,030.22. After touching 29,000 intraday on the 11th, the Dow had remained in the 28,000 range but showed strength on this day to break into the 29,000 level.

The S&P 500 index also rose 6.14 points (0.19%) to 3,289.29, and the Nasdaq index closed the day up 7.37 points (0.08%) at 9,258.70.

On this day, the New York stock market showed continuous strength, hitting intraday highs supported by the signing of the US-China Phase 1 trade agreement, but the upward momentum somewhat diminished near the close. It is regarded as typical profit-taking by investors following the exposure of the news.

Corporate earnings reported on this day were somewhat disappointing. Bank of America’s stock fell 2% due to earnings that fell short of market expectations. Investment bank Goldman Sachs also underperformed market earnings expectations due to fines related to the Malaysia 1MDB scandal, resulting in weak stock performance.

In particular, retailer Target suffered the humiliation of a 7% drop in its stock price amid evaluations of sluggish sales during the year-end shopping season.

International oil prices reversed to a weak trend despite the signing of the US-China Phase 1 trade agreement, due to inventory burdens.

On this day at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for February delivery closed at $57.81 per barrel, down 0.7% ($0.42) from the previous day. At 3:48 PM, March Brent crude on the London ICE Futures Exchange was trading down 0.28% ($0.18) at $64.31 per barrel.

While the US-China trade agreement is a positive factor that could revitalize global trade, news that US gasoline inventories reached their highest level since February last week acted as a major negative factor.

International gold prices were strong. February delivery gold on the New York Commodity Exchange closed at $1,554.0 per ounce, up 0.6% ($9.40) from the previous day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.