[New York Close] Stock Market on Fire... 3 Major Indexes Hit Record Highs Again

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The US stock market is rising relentlessly. On the 16th, a day after the signing of the US-China Phase One trade agreement, major US indices continued to race ahead, hitting record highs. Strong earnings and positive indicators acted as the catalyst for the market rally.

On the 16th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,297.64, up 267.42 points (0.92%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 index rose 27.52 points (0.84%) to 3,316.81, and the Nasdaq surged 98.44 points (1.06%) to close at 9,357.13.

All three major indices reached record highs, reflecting the heated market. On this day, all three indices crossed significant thresholds. The S&P 500 surpassed 3,300 for the first time at closing, Nasdaq exceeded 9,300, and the Dow reached 29,300 intraday.

The US Senate’s ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), also sent a positive signal to the market.

Economic indicators were also favorable. The US Department of Commerce reported that December retail sales increased by 0.3% compared to the previous month. This was in line with market expectations and interpreted as consumers actively engaging in year-end shopping. Retail sales excluding automobiles and gasoline rose by 0.5% in December, marking the largest increase in the past five months.

The US Department of Labor announced that initial jobless claims last week decreased by 10,000 to 204,000, significantly below the market expectation of 216,000. This signals that the current strong employment situation continues.

Despite strong employment, inflation remained low. The Department of Labor reported that import prices in December rose 0.3% month-over-month, the largest increase since March, but fell short of the market expectation of a 0.4% rise.

Corporate inventories in November decreased by 0.2% from the previous month to $2.0374 trillion, matching market expectations of a 0.2% decline. Compared to the same period last year, inventories increased by 2.8%.

Strong earnings from major companies also supported the stock price gains.

Morgan Stanley announced that its net profit for the fourth quarter of last year surged 46% year-over-year to $2.24 billion. Boosted by this, Morgan Stanley’s stock price jumped more than 6.6% on the day.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, became the fourth company to reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion, following Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft.

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