Wall Street rally continued on Monday following positive developments on the trade war front. The semiconductor industry gained the most on optimism about resolution of tariff-related conflicts. All three major stock indexes finished in the green.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed at 26,091.95, gaining 0.2%. The S&P 500 Index (INX) increased 0.1% to close at 2,796.11. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) closed at 7,554.46, rising 0.4%. A total of 7.36 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 7.32 billion shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1.14-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, advancers had an edge over decliners by 1.05-to-1 ratio. The CBOE VIX increased 9.9% to close at 14.85.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow ended in positive territory for two-straight days. Notably, 21 stocks of the 30-stocks blue-chip index finished in the green while nine ended in the red. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished in the green for second successive day, due to strong performance by semiconductor stocks.
The S&P 500 closed in the green for the second consecutive day. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) gained 0.7% while Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) lost 0.8%. Notably, seven out of 11 sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green while four ended in red.
Trump Delays Further Tariff on China
The 11-month long trade dispute between the United States and China is heading toward a likely resolution. On Feb 24, President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States is planning to delay imposing tariffs on additional Chinese goods as trade related negotiations between the two countries have made substantial progress.
Notably, on Dec 1, U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping reached an initial agreement to find a permanent solution to the trade-related conflict between the two countries. The truce will be valid for the next 90 days during which the two countries will try to solve bilateral trade conflicts.
On Feb 25, Trump told at a gathering of state governors that he is hopeful of a “signing ceremony” for the trade deal very soon. Per CNBC, the two countries are considering a late March meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida.
CNBC has also reported that China has committed to import $1.2 trillion of U.S. exports. However, the two countries are yet to reach an agreement on the most crucial issues of forced transfer of technology and intellectual property.
Semiconductor Stocks Lead the Gain
Positive developments on trade war front had a strong impact on the semiconductor industry. On Feb 25, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) advanced by 0.8%. China is a major supplier of intermediary products for chipset manufacturing in the United States.Moreover, China also serves as the largest market for several large U.S. semiconductor makers.
Consequently, shares of major semiconductor stocks such as Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) , Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) climbed 1.2%, 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively. Xilinx carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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