BY STEPHEN CULP
Wall Street followed European and Asian stocks higher on Tuesday and longer-term U.S. Treasury yields gained ground after trade deal reassurances and upbeat economic data from the United States and Europe brightened the prospect of a swift economic recovery.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was on course to post its second-straight record closing high.
Economic data provided a welcome surprise to the upside with IHS Markit’s “flash” purchasing managers’ index (PMI) of June business activity in the U.S.
A separate report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed sales of new homes jumped by 16.6% in May, far better than the 2.9% consensus.
Late Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted “The China Trade Deal is fully intact,” calming markets after White House adviser Peter Navarro sparked confusion when he called the deal “over,” due in part to lingering anger over the coronavirus outbreak.
“The confirmation from the White House that the China trade deal remains in place gave a lot of confidence to the market,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York. “The PMIs overseas were very strong and broad. There’s a lot of pent up demand, there’s a lot of cash and cash equivalents sloshing around looking for a home.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 112.05 points, or 0.43%, to 26,137.01, the S&P 500 gained 17.94 points, or 0.58%, to 3,135.8 and the Nasdaq Composite added 84.93 points, or 0.84%, to 10,141.41.
IHS Markit’s PMI data for the Eurozone also blew past economist projections, climbing out of contraction territory and stoking hopes of a quick, v-shaped recovery.
Calming trade jitters also helped emerging markets advance.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.83% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.91%.
The upbeat economic data and the U.S.-China trade deal affirmation boosted longer-term U.S. Treasury yields, while the closely-watched spread between 2- and 10-year yields, considered a barometer of economic expectations, inched up to 53 basis points.
Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 4/32 in price to yield 0.7151%, from 0.704% late on Tuesday.
The 30-year bond last fell 20/32 in price to yield 1.489%, from 1.462% late on Tuesday.
The euro advanced against the dollar, jumping to a one-week high due to strong data and U.S.-China trade deal clarity.
The dollar index fell 0.64%, with the euro up 0.64% to $1.133.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.66% versus the greenback at 106.19 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.2507, up 0.37% on the day.
Oil prices gained some ground on the prospect of reopening economies sparking an uptick in demand.
U.S. crude rose 0.17% to $40.80 per barrel and Brent was last at $43.45, up 0.86% on the day.
Gold prices inched higher as lingering concerns over a recent spike in COVID-19 cases helped keep demand for safe-haven assets elevated.
Spot gold added 0.6% to $1,765.43 an ounce.
