US close: S&P 500 logs seventh straight gain, its longest streak in two years

US stocks rose for a seventh straight day on Tuesday as both oil prices and bond yields dropped.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.2% higher while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and Nasdaq rose 0.9%.

The S&P 500 has now risen every day since closing at a five-month low on 27 October, gaining 6.3% over seven consecutive sessions and registering its longest winning streak since early November 2021.

"After three months of relentless selling, we finally got a strong bounce from oversold levels. This was helped along by a sharp retreat in bond yields which came as the US Federal Reserve held rates unchanged for a second consecutive meeting, and after Friday’s non-farm payrolls came in significantly weaker than expected," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

"The overall takeaway is that no matter what the FOMC and Fed chair Jerome Powell said, or didn’t say last Wednesday, as far as the market is concerned, the US central bank’s programme of rate hikes has finally come to an end. Maybe, or maybe not."

Speaking on Tuesday however, Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari said he wasn't convinced that the central bank's rate-hiking programme was over just yet, noting the Fed's primary goal was to bring inflation fully down to its 2% target.

In a separate speech, Chicago Fed head Austan Goolsbee said a "golden path" soft landing that would see the US avoid a recession was still on the cards.

Focus will remain on the Fed this week, with Powell set to give his assessment of the current state of the US economy on Wednesday.

On the macro front, the US trade deficit in goods ticked up to $85.8bn in September, according to the Census Bureau, from an upwardly revised print of $84.6bn in August. Exports rose 2.9% to $174.0bn, while imports grew 2.4% to $259.8bn.

The yield on a 10-year US Treasury fell 8.3 basis points to 4.567%.

Meanwhile, oil prices were hammered on Tuesday as a result of Chinese trade highlighting decreased demand, while industrial output in Germany slumped more than forecast. WTI crude was down a whopping 4.2% at $77.41 a barrel – its lowest level since July.

Chinese exports dropped 6.4% year-on-year in October, slightly worse than the 6.2% decline in September but much worse than the 3.5% fall expected by analysts. However, imports were up 3% after a 6.3% drop the previous month, meaning the trade surplus fell to $56.5bn after a revised $77.8bn the month before.

"Weaker-than-expected Chinese exports for October have fed into concerns that the global economy is languishing in stagflation territory, with little prospect of an upturn," said analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.

Uber accelerates

After a tentative start, ridesharing giant Uber finished 4% higher after it beat profit expectations for the third quarter. The company posted revenues that missed estimates, principally due to a change in accounting methods, but earnings per share came in at 10 cents, up from a loss of 61 cents a year before ahead of the 7 cents estimate.

Sector peer Lyft also finished the day with strong gains.

Housebuilder DR Horton beat fourth-quarter estimates with its latest set of earnings, citing tight housing supply.

Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips all finished firmly lower as oil prices dropped to a four-month low, while airline and travels stocks like Carnival, American Airlines, Delta and United all finished in positive territory.