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* U.S. to delay tariff increase on Chinese imports
* ECB cuts deposit rate to record low
* All eyes now on Fed meeting next week
* Technology biggest boost on S&P 500, energy only drag
* Indexes up: Dow 0.48%, S&P 500 0.52%, Nasdaq 0.58%
(Updates prices, adds details)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Sept 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were on track for a second
straight session of gains on Thursday, after a stimulus drive by
the European Central Bank added to an upbeat mood from trade
concessions by Washington and Beijing ahead of planned
negotiations in October.
In a tweet that calmed financial markets, President Donald
Trump said the United States would delay increasing tariffs on
$250 billion worth of Chinese imports, after Beijing exempted
some U.S. goods from additional levies. Trade-sensitive technology stocks provided the biggest boost
among the 11 major S&P 500 .SPX sectors, gaining 0.84%. Now
trading above 3,000 points, the benchmark index rose to within
0.4% of a record high hit in July.
ECB chief Mario Draghi pledged indefinite asset purchases on
Thursday and cut deposit rates to a record low for the first
time since 2016. The move took a toll on U.S. treasury yields
across the board, which dragged down shares of banks .SPXBK by
0.6%. US/
Investors expect other central banks to deliver similar
stimulus programs to prop up a global economy that has been
bruised by the Sino-U.S. trade war. The Federal Reserve is also
expected to reduce interest rates at its policy meeting next
week. Underlining the sensitivity of markets to trade news, all
the major indexes hit a session high on a report https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-12/trump-advisers-considering-interim-china-deal-to-delay-tariffs?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_source=twitter
that the Trump administration was considering an interim deal
with China. However, they quickly pared gains after CNBC said
that a senior White House official denied https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/senior-white-house-official-denies-report-us-considering-interim-china-trade-deal.html
the report.
"It's just what we should come to expect now," Paul Nolte,
portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago said
about the sporadic market movement.
"Both China and the United States are trying to reach across
the aisle ... but all they've done is kick the can further down
the road."
Separately, data on Thursday showed U.S. underlying consumer
prices in August recorded the largest annual gain in a year,
while weekly jobless claims dropped to a five-month low. At 12:51 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 130.49 points, or 0.48%, at 27,267.53, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 15.64 points, or 0.52%, at 3,016.57 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 47.52 points, or 0.58%, at 8,217.19.
Energy stocks .SPNY fell 0.51% and were the only decliners
among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors as oil prices dipped after a
meeting of the OPEC+ alliance yielded no decision on deepening
supply cuts. O/R
Industrial stocks were pressured by drops in Deere & Co
DE.N and Caterpillar Inc CAT.N after Wells Fargo downgraded
their shares to "market perform". Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.30-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.18-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and 1 new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 70 new highs and 19 new lows.