Wall Street close: Benchmarks set fresh record closes on upbeat trade headlines

US benchmarks were making record highs and closes on Monday following the optimism in Sino/US trade-deal headlines along with a spate of merger activity which investors cheered. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, DJIA, finished the day above its previous closing high of 28,036.22 set on the 18th November by advancing 190.92 points, or 0.7%, close at to 28,066.61. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 also beat its prior closing record of 8,570.66 set on November 19th adding 23.35 points, or 0.8%, to close at 3,133.64. The Nasdaq also ended the session above the prior closing high of 3,122.03 set on November 18th climbing 112.60 points, or 1.3%, to close at 8,632.49. Similarly, European markets were also bid. In Europe, the DAX was up 0.6% and the FTSE 100 has lifted 0.9% despite sterling’s strength. 

Catalysts for the upbeat tone

The main catalyst for the bid in global equities was on the back of a weekend report that the Chinese government was calling for more protection of intellectual property rights. Meanwhile, in corporate news, The Charles Schwab Corp. and TD Ameritrade announced a merger deal –  Schwab will acquire Ameritrade in an all-stock transaction valued at around $26 billion. 

US data in focus, little bearing on stocks

Meanwhile, as for data, it s was second-tier stuff, although it will be paid attention to by the Fed. the Chicago National Activity Index fell to -0.71 in October from September’s -0.45 read, its lowest reading since April ... 

"The index is designed that a reading below/above 0 indicates below/above-trend growth. With some early Q4 data disappointing, the question for the Fed is whether this dip is temporary or something more permanent. The baseline expectation is that it is temporary. Meanwhile, the November Dallas Fed manufacturing index rose to -1.3 in November from -5.1 in October," analysts at ANZ Bank explained. 

DJIA levels