Stocks End Higher as Partial Trade Deal Clinched: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks ended a tumultuous session higher with major benchmarks notching records as investors attempted to assess the contours of a partial deal reached between the U.S. and China.

Stocks swung between gains and losses throughout the day, while Treasuries surged as neither side delivered enough details to calm investors who sent shares to records Thursday on reports fresh tariffs due Sunday have been averted.

President Donald Trump confirmed as much Friday, but it remained unclear whether China agreed to enough agricultural purchases or if the U.S. had planned to roll back some existing tariffs.

The S&P 500 eked out a gain, rising for the ninth week out of the last 10, after Trump signaled he’d cut in half the tariffs that took hold in September. The U.S. will maintain levies that began in the spring. The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 1.82%.

“Both sides now seem to be negotiating in public,” Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co., said. “The uncertainty makes it impossible to make concrete investment decisions. These negotiations have turned into a circus.”

The dollar was steady against major peers after U.S. retail sales data fell short of estimates. West Texas crude and gold advanced.

The fresh trade headlines overshadowed the U.K. election that puts the country on track to leave the European Union next month. The FTSE 100 index rose more than 1% and the pound surged.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 Index rose 0.01% at 4 p.m. New York time.
• The Nasdaq 100 added 0.2%.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.1%.
• The U.K.‘s FTSE 100 Index rose 1.1%.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.6%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat.
• The British pound increased 1.3% to $1.3338.
• The euro dropped 0.1% at $1.1114.
• The Japanese yen was steady at 109.31 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell seven basis points to 1.82%.
• The two-year yield fell six basis points to 1.60%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield lost one basis point to -0.279%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield gained three basis points to 0.845%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.3% to $59.97 a barrel.
• Gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,480.70 an ounce.

--With assistance from Cormac Mullen.

To contact the reporters on this story: Luke Kawa in New York at lkawa@bloomberg.net;Vildana Hajric in New York at vhajric1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Jeremy Herron

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.