U.S. Stocks Finish Off Strong Year With Moderate Advance

(RTTNews) - Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading day on Tuesday but moved to the upside going into the close. The moderate advance on the day capped off a strong year for stocks, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 posting their biggest yearly gains in six years.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow climbed 76.30 points or 0.3 percent to 28,538.44, the Nasdaq rose 26.61 points or 0.3 percent to 8,972.60 and the S&P 500 edged up 9.49 points or 0.3 percent to 3,230.78.

For the year, the Nasdaq spiked by 35.2 percent and the S&P 500 soared by 29.6 percent, recording their best gains since 2013. The Dow also jumped by 22.3 percent, turning in its best year since 2017.

Traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves on the final trading day of 2019, content to hang on to the strong gains seen for the year.

The New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday also kept some traders away from their desks, contributing to another relatively quiet trading session.

The markets have recently benefited from news the U.S. and China have reached an agreement on a phase one trade deal.

President Donald Trump revealed in a post on Twitter this morning that the phase one trade deal will be signed during a White House ceremony on January 15th.

"I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15. The ceremony will take place at the White House. High level representatives of China will be present. At a later date I will be going to Beijing where talks will begin on Phase Two!" Trump tweeted.

Recent reports have indicated Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Beijing's top trade negotiator, will be on hand to sign the agreement.

The major averages have continually crept up to new record highs in recent sessions, although buying has been somewhat subdued as traders wait to see the details of the deal.

Significant tariffs will also remain in place even after the deal is signed, leading to some uncertainty about the actual impact of the agreement.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Conference Board showing U.S. consumer confidence dipped from an upwardly revised level in the month of December.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index edged down to 126.5 in December from an upwardly revised 126.8 in November.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to rise to 128.2 from the 125.5 originally reported for the previous month.

Sector News

Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, although natural gas stocks showed a significant move to the upside.

Reflecting the strength in the natural gas sector, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index advanced by 1.6 percent. The strength in the sector came amid a modest increase by the price of natural gas.

Chemical, oil, and tobacco stocks also saw some strength on the day, while considerable weakness was visible among oil service stocks.

Shares of Core Labs (CLB) fell sharply after the provider of laboratory analytics services to the petroleum industry slashed its fourth quarter guidance and lowered its quarterly dividend.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Tuesday, with several markets closed for holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index decreased by 0.5 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index tumbled by 1.8 percent.

European stocks also moved to the downside during an abbreviated trading session. The French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.6 percent, while the German markets were closed on the day.

In the bond market, treasuries extended the pullback seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.4 basis points to 1.919 percent.

Looking Ahead

Following the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday, a report on weekly jobless claims may attract some attention on Thursday.