US close: Investors cheer progress on resolving government shutdown
Investors pushed US stocks higher going into the weekend amid reports that Republican leaders were trying to broker a deal with their peers from across the aisle to end the partial federal government shutdown.
And shortly before the close of trading in New York, President Donald Trump announced an agreement to re-open the government until 15 February, even as he threatened to invoke 'national emergency' powers if necessary in order to move ahead with building a border wall with Mexico.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.75% or 183.96 points higher to 24,737.20, while the S&P 500 had picked up 0.85% or 22.43 points to trade at 2,664.76 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.29% or 91.40 points firmer at 7,164.86.
Sino-US relations remained in focus as investors mulled over conflicting signals ahead of the round of trade talks with Beijing over the following week.
Overnight, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned that the US and China were "miles and miles" away from ending their trade dispute. However, he also said that there was a fair chance that China will get a trade deal. Meanwhile, Trump's economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the US president is optimistic on trade talks.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "Trade negotiations between the US and China continue to be a major focal point for investors, with an apparent softening of tensions since the G20 in December contributing to the improved risk appetite we're currently seeing.
"The rhetoric coming from these talks has broadly been positive but this week, it has been a little mixed suggesting talks may have stalled with just over a month to go until the 90-day deadline."
He added that Kudlow's comments have "failed to kill suspicions that talks aren't going as well as previously claimed".
The USD spot dollar index was sharply lower, shedding 0.84% to 95.7910, while the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was ahead by four basis points to 2.76%.
In corporate news, Intel Corp was 5.47% lower after its fourth-quarter revenue came in lower than expected and its outlook disappointed.
Colgate-Palmolive was off 0.58% after the consumer products group's fourth-quarter earnings fell short of analysts' expectations.
Elsewhere, Starbucks was 3.63% higher after the coffee chain beat earnings estimates with its fourth-quarter numbers late on Thursday.
Shares in Western Digital Corp rallied 7.52% at the opening bell following the release of second-quarter earnings late on Thursday.
Dow Jones - Risers
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $157.76 3.31%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $136.86 3.11%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $57.76 2.54%
3M Co. (MMM) $195.90 1.76%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $180.40 1.75%
Boeing Co. (BA) $364.17 1.66%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $200.69 1.49%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $46.13 1.14%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $133.97 1.09%
American Express Co. (AXP) $100.77 1.05%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $47.04 -5.47%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $184.00 -1.80%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $96.94 -1.44%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $56.40 -1.17%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $40.65 -0.76%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $93.60 -0.74%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $47.37 -0.67%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $72.95 -0.30%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $113.25 -0.26%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $80.61 0.21%
S&P 500 - Risers
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $43.16 7.52%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $43.66 6.57%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $38.96 6.48%
EQT Corp. (EQT) $19.97 5.72%
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $21.66 5.25%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $11.24 5.05%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $21.64 4.49%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $142.08 4.43%
General Electric Co. (GE) $9.16 4.33%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $11.27 4.26%
S&P 500 - Fallers
PG&E Corp. (PCG) $11.77 -15.63%
AbbVie Inc (ABBV) $80.54 -6.22%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $1.98 -5.71%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $47.04 -5.47%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $515.04 -3.93%
E*TRADE Financial Corp. (ETFC) $47.77 -3.46%
NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) $174.20 -3.37%
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) $108.12 -2.98%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $37.33 -2.61%
Coca-Cola European Partners Limited (CCEP) $45.07 -2.55%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $43.16 7.52%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $23.63 6.92%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $43.66 6.57%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $38.96 6.48%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $176.66 4.59%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $142.08 4.43%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $110.37 4.06%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $34.98 3.92%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $79.95 3.82%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $67.09 3.63%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $47.04 -5.47%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $515.04 -3.93%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $17.97 -3.18%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $293.88 -2.38%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $35.78 -1.27%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $198.77 -1.09%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $337.44 -0.74%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $42.72 -0.72%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $209.07 -0.59%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $117.11 -0.26%