US open: Wall Street trading kicks off the new quarter with some early gains

Wall Street trading began the week and the quarter with some gains following news of a last-minute breakthrough in trade talks between the US and Canada.

As of 1535 BST, the Dow Jones was ahead 0.96% at 26,712.37, while the S&P 500 was up 0.72% at 2,935.01 and the Nasdaq was trading 0.64% firmer at 8,098.02.

SpreadEx analyst Connor Campbell, said: "The Dow Jones had something of a tough end to September, an otherwise excellent month petering out in the final week. It got its mojo back on Monday, however, investors more than willing to celebrate the trade agreement reached between the USA and Canada, the latter joining August-signees Mexico to finally secure the replacement to the Trump-burned NAFTA deal."

"Arguably the Dow's jump was less due to the specifics of this new North American agreement, but rather the emerging pattern in regards to the resolution of Trump's trade conflicts, and what that could mean for the war between the US and China."

According to Bloomberg, the two North American nations agreed on a revamped North American Free Trade Area that would allow US firms greater access to Canada's dairy market, together with improved rules on intellectual property and tighter rules-of-origin for auto manufacturers.

However, it was later reported that the recently-enacted steel and aluminium tariffs would remain in place.

"The agreement between US and Canadian trade delegates was struck just hours before the midnight deadline, and President Trump will be delighted that he managed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement," said David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

"The Mexican component of the deal was reached in August and now that the Canadian element has fallen into place, bullish sentiment is sweeping across global markets."

On the data front, the Institute for Supply Management revealed that its manufacturing index had fallen to a reading of 59.8% in September from its previous 61.3% figure. Economists were expecting a reading of 60.7%.

Separately, IHS Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers index reached a four-month high of 55.6 last month.

In other news, spending on construction projects edged up 0.1% across the US in August - with a strong gain in government spending helping to offset weakness in home building and non-residential construction.

The Commerce Department revealed that the rise, which came fresh on the heels of a 0.2% increase recorded in July, put total construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.32trn - a 0.4% drop from the record high set back in May.

Elsewhere on the economic scene, a raft of Fed speakers are set to take the stage on Monday, starting with Atlanta Fed chief, Raphael Bostic, at 1800 BST, followed by his opposite number at the Minneapolis Fed, Neel Kashkari, at 2000 BST and the Boston Fed's Eric Rosengren at 2115 BST.

On the corporate front, Tesla shares took off 17.11% after American financial securities watchdog, the SEC, backpedalled from a push to replace Elon Musk at the helm of the carmaker.

General Electric stock was up 12.10% after the industrial conglomerate announced that Lawrence Culp would replace John Flannery as its chief executive officer with immediate effect.

GE also disclosed it would book a roughly $23bn non-cash charge to write-down "substantially all" of the "goodwill" of its power business.

Medical cannabis-maker Tilray was also 16.45% higher in early trade.