Stocks - S&P, Nasdaq Hit All-Time Highs as Tech Continues to Shine

Investing.com – The S&P 500 closed at record highs on Monday, as sentiment on U.S.-China trade received a boost on reports that the White House will no longer label China a currency manipulator. That comes just days ahead of the expected conclusion of the phase one trade deal.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.04% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.28%,

The White House plans to remove its designation of China as a currency manipulator, according to published reports.

The U.S. government last summer tagged China with the label of currency manipulator when tensions between Washington and Beijing threatened to boil over.

The news helped raised optimism ahead of the U.S. and China signing the first phase of their trade deal on Wednesday.

The phase one trade deal would halt any escalations in tit-for-tat tariffs and roll back some existing U.S. tariffs in Chinese goods.

The positive sentiment on trade coupled with bullish calls from Wall Street on tech heavyweights like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) helped tech stocks continued their march higher.

Apple closed at record highs after DA Davidson hiked its price target on the tech giant amid expectations it will roll out 5G iPhones later this year.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) ended the day more than 1% higher after Credit Suisse raised its price target on the tech giant to $180 from $155.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) surged 9%, topping $500 for the first time, underpinned by a target price hike from Oppenheimer to $612 from $358

Industrials, meanwhile, also played a part in the broader market rally, led by gains in General Electric (NYSE:GE) on bullish remarks from Deutsche Bank

"We see the potential for GE to deliver a beat in 4Q19 and 2020 guidance that suggests upside to current consensus at the midpoint of the range," Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) said.

Healthcare, however, proved an exception to broader rally as news that presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had taken the lead in Iowa raised concerns about the private healthcare insurance market.

Sanders has backed proposals for a universal Medicare plan, where people could be guaranteed coverage without using private insurance.

Cigna (NYSE:CI) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) slipped about 3%, while Centene (NYSE:CNC) fell about 2%.

Energy, meanwhile, was roughly unchanged as oil prices slipped to five-week lows, down 1.6%, as oversupply worries resurfaced amid softer seasonal demand.

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