Stocks – Trade Hopes (Again) Send Stocks to New Highs

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Investing.com – U.S. stocks surged Thursday after China said it has worked out a deal with the United States that removes some tariffs in a phase one trade deal.

But the rally was trimmed a bit after Reuters said internal disagreements in the Trump Administration were stalling a sign-off on the deal.

Still, the , , and the indexes hit new intraday and closing highs. The just missed a closing high but hit an intraday high.

The Dow was up 0.66% and the S&P 500 up 0.27%. The Nasdaq added 0.28%, with the Nasdaq 100 up 0.29%. The Dow transports were up 0.56%.

Apple (NASDAQ:), Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:), truck maker Paccar (NASDAQ:) and Walmart (NYSE:) hit all-time highs.

A host of stocks hit 52-week highs, including Qualcomm (NASDAQ:), Citigroup (NYSE:), Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:) and JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:).

Two stocks that didn’t join the party Thursday were video streaming company Roku (NASDAQ:) and online travel company Expedia (NASDAQ:), which both reported disappointing quarterly results after Wednesday’s close.

After hours Thursday, entertainment giant Walt Disney (NYSE:) shares jumped nearly 4% as quarterly results from its theme parks and box-office hits helped the company’s results beat analyst estimates.

One indicator to watch: The major averages saw their relative strength indexes, a widely watched technical indicator, briefly top 70 in the early afternoon before the market pullback. An RSI level above 70 can indicate the market is getting overbought.

The China-U.S. deal calls for China to buy more farm products and let financial services compete for business, Chinese officials said. At the same time, tariffs scheduled to be imposed in December would be cancelled and others phased out.

But Reuters said disagreements inside the White House about what to do about the tariffs may stall the deal.

The two sides have been expecting U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign an agreement some time in December.

The big demand for stocks, especially early in the day, sent interest rates higher. The Treasury yield reached as high as 1.95%, its highest level since the end of July, before falling back to 1.919% toward the end of the day. The 10-year yield had fallen to as low as 1.429% in early September amid worries about the slowing global economy.

The prospects of a trade deal slammed and prices in New York and pushed up . Oil prices moved higher with up 80 cents to $57.15 a barrel, and crude, the global benchmark, up 55 cents to $62.29 a barrel.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were higher on the day, led by energy, communications services, technology and financials. Utilities and real estate stocks, exposed to changing interest rates, were the weakest sectors.

Fashion company Ralph Lauren (NYSE:), broadcaster Discovery (NASDAQ:), telecom company CenturyLink (NYSE:) and military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:) were among the top S&P 500 performers on Thursday.

Expedia (NASDAQ:), TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:), Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:) and Hologic (NASDAQ:) were the SP 500 laggards.