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Stocks appeared set to extend an ascent toward all-time highs to start the first full week in November trading, amid continued optimism about a near-term U.S.-China trade resolution.
What are major indexes doing?
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMZ19, +0.45% rose 129 points, or 0.5%, to reach 27,387, those for the S&P 500 were up 15.30 points, or 0.5%, at 3,078.50 while Nasdaq-100 futures NQZ19, +0.56% advanced 49 points, or 0.6%, 8,209.25.
If gains hold, the Dow DJIA, +1.11% will attempt a run at its first closing record since July 15, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.13% and S&P 500 SPX, +0.97% will try for back-to-back all-time highs. The last time all three indexes closed at records on the same day was mid July, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Read: Dow and S&P 500 are set to rise at least another 5% in the next 2 months — if this pattern holds
What’s driving the market?
Wall Street was on pace to add to a recent run-up toward records as investors watched the latest development on a so-called “phase one” agreement between China and the U.S.
On Sunday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that licenses for companies to do business with China’s Huawei Technologies Inc. will be coming “very shortly” and expressed optimism about a pact. However, he said a preliminary deal might not be ready to be signed this month: “We’re in good shape, we’re making good progress, and there is no natural reason why it couldn’t be.” Ross offered Iowa, Hawaii and Alaska as possible sites for a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to sign the deal, during an interview with Bloomberg Television in Bangkok, Thailand, on the sidelines of the Asean summit.
Indeed, Friday data showed that the U.S. economy created 128,000 new jobs in October, above economists’ estimates of a 75,000 gain, while the unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.6%, in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, market watchers also have characterized already issued quarterly results as far better than expected, a belief that has underpinned upbeat sentiment thus far.
Of the 356 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported third-quarter earnings thus far, 75.8% have reported earnings per share that exceeded analysts’ estimates, according to data from Refinitiv, above the average 65% beat rate since 1994, putting the index on pace for an overall decline in earnings of 0.8%, up from a predicted 2.2% contraction on Oct. 1.
Meanwhile, investors also were processing the news out of the Dow component, McDonald’s Corp. MCD, -1.40% after the restaurant chain said it fired its Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook because of his consensual relationship with an employee. Shares of the company were down 2.7% in premarket action.
What other companies are in focus?
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.A, +1.40% BRK.B, +1.53% reported third-quarter net earnings of $16.5 billion, or $10,119 per Class A share equivalent, from $18.5 billion, or $11,280 a share, in the year-earlier period. Last year’s third-quarter earnings surged due to unrealized investment gains. Shares of Berkshire’s class B shares were up 0.7% in premarket action, while Class A shares weren’t being actively traded.
Under Armour Inc. UA, +2.22% UAA, +2.37% said regulators are examining whether the sportswear maker shifted sales from quarter to quarter to appear healthier, according to people familiar with the matter. Shares of Under Armour were down by at least 14% before Monday’s opening bell.
Shares of ride-hailing company Uber Technologies UBER, -0.41% will be in focus as the company is set to report quarterly results. Uber’s stock was little changed ahead of the open.
How are other markets trading?
The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, +2.10% rose 2.4 basis points to 1.751%, after notching on Friday its largest weekly slide since Oct. 4.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil for December delivery CLZ19, +1.07% rose 74 cents, or 1.3%, at $56.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the price of an ounce of gold GCZ19, +0.22% was up 0.2% at $1,514.40 an ounce on Comex. The U.S. dollar was little changed, per the ICE U.S. dollar index DXY, +0.09% at 97.27.
In Asia overnight, the China CSI 300 000300, +0.65% added 0.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.65% advanced 1.7%. In Europe, stocks were trading mostly higher, as reflected in the Stoxx Europe 600’s SXXP, +0.92% 0.8% gain.
