Optimism reigns pushing the Dow up another 83 points and to new records on all the major indexes.  Q4 is next, which begins with the big banks reporting on Tuesday.  And the consensus is that Q4 will turn rosier in direct correlation to progress on the trade deals.  At 7 billion shares traded, volume was right in line with the 4-week average.

Mon   JANUARY 13, 2020 / 5:46 pm 

Wall Street hits record, boosted by trade and earnings optimism

Noel Randewich

DJ:  28,823.77  -133.13        NAS:  9,178.86  -24.57         S&P:  3,265.35  -9.35        1/10

DJ:  28,907.05  +83.28         NAS:  9,273.93  +95.07        S&P:  3,288.13  +22.78     1/13

(Reuters) - Apple, Alphabet and other tech favorites propelled Wall Street to record highs on Monday, fueled by optimism about the signing of a preliminary U.S.-China trade deal, as well upcoming fourth-quarter earnings reports.

Apple (AAPL.O), Facebook Inc (FB.O), Netflix Inc (NFLX.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), which have powered the longest bull run in U.S. equities, were among the top contributors to record high closes for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

Apple rose 2.14% to close at a record high. Also reaching a record high, Google-owner Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) added 0.8%, bringing its market capitalization to $993 billion.

An easing of Middle East tensions and the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade agreement, which is expected to be signed in Washington on Wednesday, have encouraged riskier bets over the last week.

 “People are optimistic about earnings and they’re also relieved that the Iran situation last week didn’t end up being worse than it was, and people are happy that China and the U.S. are coming together to sign the Phase 1 trade deal. There’s a lot to be optimistic about,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that the Trump administration planned to lift its designation of China as a currency manipulator, adding to the positive mood.

Investors are awaiting earnings from big banks JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), which kick off the fourth-quarter reporting season from Tuesday.  Analysts expect profits at S&P 500 companies to drop 0.6% for a second consecutive quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES data.  Many investors, however, are already looking ahead to a potentially rosier earnings outlook once Washington and China resolve their trade dispute. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.29% to end at 28,907.05, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.70% to 3,288.13, its highest close ever.  The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC jumped 1.04% to 9,273.93, also a record high. 

Aerospace companies Hexcel Corp (HXL.N) and Woodward Inc (WWD.O) jumped 9.6% and 4.8%, respectively, after the two Boeing suppliers said they would combine in an all-stock merger valued at $6.43 billion.  Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) surged 9.8% to a record high after a report that China would not make significant cuts to subsidies for new energy vehicles this year, while Oppenheimer boosted its price target on the stock. 

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.40-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.73-to-1 ratio favored advancers.  The S&P 500 posted 64 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 155 new highs and 31 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.0 billion shares, about average over the last 20 trading days.