Wall Street driven by hopes of US-EU trade relaxation

by April Joyner

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended Wednesday on the rise, driven by hopes of trade relaxation between the United States and the European Union, despite the poor reception of the results of Boeing, General Motors or AT & T.

The dynamism of the technology sector has also helped to sustain the trend.

The Dow Jones index gained 172.16 points (+ 0.68%) at 25,414.1. The Standard & Poor's 500, the largest and most important investor base, took 25.67 points (+ 0.91%), at 2,846.07. The technology-rich Nasdaq Composite climbed 91.471 points, or 1.17%, to 7,932,239.

US President Donald Trump received in Washington the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, for talks aimed at easing trade disputes between the United States and the European Union.

According to US media reports, Donald Trump, who threatens to tax imports of European cars, has obtained concessions from the EU to avoid a trade war. In particular, the EU has agreed to import more soya and liquefied natural gas from the United States and to work to lower industrial tariffs between the two blocks.

This information, released in the last minutes of the session, allowed the three major Wall Street indexes to increase their gains as the close to the close and Boeing, which is particularly exposed to trade tensions, significantly reduce its losses. that he previously weighed heavily on the Dow Jones.

The title of the American aircraft manufacturer ended up down 0.66% following the publication of its results. Boeing has maintained its annual profit forecast, but at a level below Wall Street's expectations, and has announced a further rise in costs for its late-season KC-46 tanker aircraft program.

FACEBOOK MOUNTED BEFORE ITS RESULTS, FALLING AFTER

General Motors, down 4.64%, recorded one of the biggest declines in the S & P-500. The automaker has lowered its profit forecast for 2018 by highlighting the rise in steel and aluminum prices due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

The dip was tougher for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' (-11.83%) New York-listed stock due to a surprisingly strong quarterly profit drop, which was not overshadowed by the emotion caused by the announcement of the death of his emblematic ex-boss Sergio Marchionne.

AT & T telecom operator dropped 4.51% due to lower than expected revenue.

Contrasting with the setbacks of these historic groups, the giants of new technologies helped to support the trend with gains of 2.95% for Microsoft or 0.94% for Apple.

Facebook took 1.32% before the publication of its quarterly results after closing. But the social network has disappointed, with subscribers falling short of expectations, and the stock has dropped 9% in post-closing deals.

"The technology sector is relatively untouched by the trade war and that's why we see it succeed so well this year," says Lamar Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co. "Anyone who is concerned about tariffs judge it's a good place to hide. "

Some quarterly results were nevertheless welcomed by investors, like those of Coca-Cola, who took 1.83% after announcing sales and earnings above expectations.

The current season of results could also be historic. Of the 148 companies in the S & P-500 that had already published before Wednesday's close, 85.8% had better earnings than expected. If this rate continues, it will be the highest ever recorded since the first statistics on the subject in the first quarter of 1994, according to Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

"There are concerns about trade disputes but economic fundamentals, corporate earnings far outweigh the commercial fears," says Randy Frederick, Charles Schwab's vice president of trading and derivatives.

(With Amy Caren Daniel in Bangalore, Bertrand Boucey for French service)