Wall Street closes substantially higher on improved sentiment

All major sectors ended the day in the positive territory.
China to send a delegation to Washington to discuss trade relations.
The CBOE Volatility fell 7.6% on Thursday.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Major equity indexes in the United States started the day sharply higher and preserved their bullish momentum to close the day with decisive gains.

News of China sending officials to Washington later this month to talk about the trade relations and possibly resolving the conflict improved the market sentiment n Thursday. The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 7.6% on the day while the trade-sensitive S&P 500 Industrials Index rose 1.16%.

Furthermore, upbeat earnings figures from the retail giant Wallmart lifted the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Index, which was up 1.52% at the end of the day. "Focus on the meat and potatoes and not the peas. Earnings are extraordinary. This is the best economic backdrop in 30 years. Why would I care about the perennial trade spat?" " Doug Cote, the chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management in New York, told Reuters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 397.74 points, or 1.58%, to 25,560.15, the S&P 500 rose 22.27 points, or 0.79%, to 2,840.64 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 32.64 points, or 0.42%, to 7,806.76.

DJIA Technical Outlook via FXStreet Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik

"The Dow trimmed all of this week losses and entered firmly in the positive ground, posting its highest settlement in over a week. Technical readings in the daily chart suggest that the ongoing recovery may continue this Friday, as, after holding above the 100 and 200 SMA, the index recovered ground above the 20 DMA, which now gains upward traction. Furthermore, technical indicators re-entered positive territory, maintaining upward slopes although with the Momentum, for now, in neutral levels."

"Shorter term, and according to the 4 hours chart, the index also offers a bullish stance, after settling well above all of its moving averages, while technical indicators lost upward strength near overbought levels, far from suggesting upward exhaustion."

Support levels: 25,597 25,549 25,501
Resistance levels: 25,606 25,651 25,690

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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