US stocks have reached fresh record highs, boosted by banks and travel companies as the rally driven by the election of Donald Trump continues.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to just below the 20,000 mark, reaching a record intra-day high of 19,987.
It eased back slightly to what was still a record closing high of 19,975.
Consumer stocks were driven by gains among travel companies, including cruise line operator Carnival which said that profit and sales were stronger than estimated.
Travel website operator TripAdvisor also gained after it said would add Expedia brands to its hotel booking website.
Banking stocks rose after yields increased on US Treasury Bonds and investors betted on a 100 per cent chance of another rise in US interest rates by July.
The US Federal Reserve raised official interest rates last week and pencilled in another possible three increases in 2017.
The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at a record high of 5,484.
IG's chief market strategist Chris Weston wrote in a note that the Dow's failure to crack 20,000 might be a small sign of weakness.
"The overnight leads though are unconvincing and we approach the start of Asian trade knowing the Dow was a whisker from wearing a 20 handle, but has faded away towards the latter stages of the day," he observed.
Markets also gained ground in Europe, with the FTSE 100 in London boosted by Lloyds Bank which said it would buy the MBNA UK credit card business from Bank of America to reduce its reliance on mortgage lending.
Lloyds is part-owned by the UK Government, which bailed it out during the global financial crisis.
Trump spokesman outlines further trade plans
The market rally driven by Mr Trump's election shows no signs of subsiding.
A spokesman for Donald Trump, Jason Miller, said the US President-elect will put the future Commerce Secretary, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, in charge of trade policy.
Mr Trump wants to overhaul trade deals which he says have hurt US jobs.
He has previously announced that the US will withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, potentially the world's biggest trade pact, which includes Australia.
Mr Miller told reporters that the US Trade Representative office will not be merged with the Commerce Department but most trade policy decisions would be made by Mr Ross.
"Mr Ross will be playing a big role in any trade particulars in this administration," Mr Miller said.
The move marks a departure from the policy of outgoing US President Barack Obama, with some analysts seeing the move as a downgrading of the USTR office as the US trade representative traditionally leads negotiations over trade deals.
Mr Trump's administration is expected to crack down on China's trade practices, raising fears of retaliation from Beijing.
Candidates for the USTR job include Jovita Carranza, a former deputy administrator with the Small Business Administration under former US president George W. Bush, and former deputy USTR under the Reagan administration, Robert Lighthizer.
Volkswagen reaches another emissions cheating settlement
Volkswagen has settled another case with US regulators over the emissions cheating scandal.
Some owners of 80,000 3-litre diesel Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche cars will be offered a buyback and compensation as well as repurchase or repairs.
A US judge said the settlement would include a choice of a buyback for 20,000 vehicles, although more negotiations are needed to finalise the deal.
He said Volkswagen believes it can repair the other 60,000 vehicles so they comply with pollution regulations and so will not need a buyback.
The US Environmental Protection Agency said the cost of the settlement was worth about $US1 billion, but it does not include additional compensation for owners of the 3-litre vehicles.
EPA assistant administrator Cynthia Giles estimated the costs of buybacks, fixes and diesel offsets at about $US1 billion and $US225 million would go into a trust fund to offset the extra pollution from the cars.
Volkswagen is still facing more fines and penalties, as well as possible criminal charges.
No comments:
Post a Comment