S&P above 3,000 but Boeing holds back DOW

Stocks got off to a great start today.

Over the weekend, China’s main trade negotiator said that there has been “substantial progress” on trade.

The trade optimism helped stocks open the day higher.

There was a small pullback right after the open. But after that stocks moved higher for most of the day, eventually closing at session highs.

Boeing (BA) was a weight on the DOW for the 2nd day in a row, losing another 3.8% today.  But unlike Friday, the DOW was able to end the day in positive territory.

With today’s gains, the S&P closed above 3,000 (first time in over a month) and just 0.7% (20 points) away from record highs.

Here’s where the major indices ended the day:

• The S&P finished with a 0.7% gain. Up 21 points, the S&P ended at 3,007.
• The DOW ended higher by 0.2%. Adding 57 points, the DOW closed at 26,828.
• The NASDAQ was up 0.9%. With a 74 point gain, the NASDAQ finished at 8,163.

Crude Oil (CL) dropped for the 2nd day in a row. Down 0.7%, CL ended at $53.51 a barrel.

Apple (AAPL) led DOW stocks with a 1.7% gain today. The rally came after a major analyst raised its price target. The stock made new record highs with today’s gains.

In after-hours trading TD Ameritrade and Stamps.com are on the move.

TD Ameritrade (AMTD) is up 5.0% after hours, following a better than expected earnings report. And Stamps.com (STMP) is up more than 18% after the company announced a partnership with UPS to offer customers discounted shipping rates.

This week’s economic calendar is pretty quiet. There were no major reports today and tomorrow the only report worth noting is Existing Homes Sales.

With a quiet economic calendar, the real focus this week will be on earnings. Tomorrow we’ll hear from McDonald’s (MCD) and Procter & Gamble (PG) before the bell. And we’ll get earnings from Chipotle (CMG) and Snap (SNAP) after the bell.