Wall Street Gains on Trade Optimism Despite Fed Caution and Mixed Global Markets

U.S. stocks rose modestly amid U.S.-EU trade agreement and China tariff truce hopes, while energy and chip stocks led sectoral gains; global markets showed mixed trends.

The Nasdaq rose 70.27 points or 0.3% to 21,178.58 and the S&P 500 inched up 1.13 points or less than a tenth of% to 6,389.77, while the narrower Dow edged down 64.36 points or 0.1% to 44,837.56.

Wall Street opened strong following news of a last-minute trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union, along with hopes of a 90-day extension to the U.S.-China tariff truce. The deal features reduced tariffs and major EU commitments to U.S. energy and investment. However, investor enthusiasm is tempered by caution ahead of the Federal Reserve?s upcoming policy announcement.

The Labor Department's monthly jobs report is also likely to be in focus in the coming days along with earnings news from Magnificent Seven members Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META).

Energy stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index jumping by 2.1% and 1.8%, respectively due to sharply higher crude oil prices in reaction to the US-EU trade deal. Semiconductor stocks were significantly strong, as reflected by the 1.6% gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Computer hardware stocks too saw considerable strength. while gold, steel and commercial real estate stocks notably moved downside.

Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.1% while Hong Kong's Hang Index climbed by 0.7%. The major European markets moved mostly lower over the course of the session while the German DAX Index slid by 1%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index the French CAC 40 Index both fell by 0.4%.

In the bond market, treasuries moved to the downside on the day. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 3.4 bps at 4.42%.

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