Stocks - Market Rises Modestly on Trade Hopes (Again)

Investing.com - There was, for public consumption, talk about how U.S.-China trade talks were progressing, and that was good enough for the stock market to move higher Friday and break a multi-day losing streak.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite rising 0.16%. The Nasdaq 100, dominated by big tech, added 0.08%. The S&P 500 and Dow broke three-day losing streaks. The Nasdaq indexes moved up after two days of declines.

The trade talk was just that, with Chinese President Xi Jinping saying the two sides were talking but vowing to walk away if he believes China's sovereignty is threatened. President Donald Trump said talks were progressing, but he believes the United States should come out ahead.

What does seem more likely is a deal isn't near and that more tariffs will be imposed on Chinese imports starting Dec. 15, although the stock market is clearly hoping for and betting on a phase one deal.

For the week, the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq saw declines. The S&P 500's was its first weekly loss after six weeks of gains. The Dow's pullback was its first after rising for four weeks. The Nasdaq's loss came after rising for seven-straight weeks.

In that time, the stock market hit record highs, but, in the last week, it has given off signs it might be overbought. Relative strength indexes for the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq surged above 70 on Nov. 15, a warning of frothiness. Above 80 makes a big pullback extremely likely.

As it is, the averages are less than 1% below their record highs, which suggests there's not a lot of worry in the market yet.

The market was led by gains in the S&P 500's financial, consumer discretionary, health and industrial sectors.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) and Macy’s (NYSE:M) both had strong days after Nordstrom earnings weren't as bad as feared.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) was among the top Dow performers, up more than 1.3% as the company unveiled its 737 Max 10 jet, which can seat 230. The plane remains grounded, but many investors believe it will be flying again early next year. The stock contributed 33 points to the Dow's 109-point gain.

The Dow's percentage leader was Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), followed by 3M (NYSE:MMM), Boeing, Nike (NYSE:NKE), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS).

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Banks were especially strong with US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) hitting a 52-week high. Airlines were gainers as oil prices fell back.

Lagging sectors included staples, technology and real estate stocks. Tech loses included Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM).

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 6.1%, worst among Nasdaq-100 stocks, after the company unveiled its new electric-powered pickup truck, with a less-than-stellar introduction. The vehicle is expected to be available starting in late 2021.

Oil prices moved lower as worries built about global oversupplies. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 81 cents to $57.77 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 58 cents to $63.39. Interest rates and gold were basically flat with the 10-year Treasury yield at 1.772%.

Apparel retailers Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN), Macy’s (NYSE:M), L Brands (NYSE:LB) and Gap (NYSE:GPS) were among the top S&P 500 performers.

Tax-software company Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), oil-company Hess (NYSE:HES), footwear retailer Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) and liquor-and-wine merchant Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) were among the S&P weakest performers in the index.