Wall Street on Monday welcomed the announcement of a cease-fire in the trade war between the United States and China, following the meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Saturday, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka. The S & P 500 index started the second half of the year with a new record high. Technology stocks, including Apple (+1.8%) and semiconductors, are among the largest increases, as are other companies whose products are made in China, such as Nike (+1.7%). Oil climbed after OPEC decided to extend its production cuts for nine months to support prices, while gold was profit-driven.
At closing, the Dow Jones Index rose by 0.44% to 26,717 points, while the broad S & P 500 index gained 0.77% to 2,964 pts, a new record, and that the Nasdaq Composite , rich in technology and biotechnology stocks, gained 1, 06% to 8.091 pts. At the high of the session, the Dow Jones gained 1.1%, the S & P 500 1.2% and Nasdaq 1.8% before falling back against disappointing manufacturing PMI indices in June in major economic areas, which fears of slowing global growth.
In the first half of 2019, completed last Friday, the DJIA gained 14%, the S & P 500 climbed 17.3% and the Nasdaq jumped 20.6%, in hopes of Fed rate cuts and a trade agreement between the United States and China. The CAC 40 jumped 17% in the first six months of 2019.
For its part, the ISM manufacturing index stood at 51.7 against 51.1 consensus of place, and after 52.1 in May. Abroad, manufacturing activity pulled back in the euro zone and China in June. The manufacturing PMI fell to 47.6 after 47.7 in May in the euro area. In Germany, it even fell sharply to 45. In China, the index PMI calculated by the firm IHS Markit/Caixin, fell to 49.4 in June, after 50.2 in May, the lowest since 4 month. In the United States, construction spending posted a surprise decline in May, by 0.8% compared to April, against + 0.1% consensus and after + 0.4% in April. On a year-over-year basis, construction spending fell 2.3%.
