US stocks maintained their solid gains around midday on Wednesday as recent presidential comments on the ongoing US-China trade talks drove market optimism.
President Donald Trump signaled he would allow more flexibility on the trade-deal deadline if the two sides were making enough progress.
In economic news, the consumer price index ( CPI ) headline was flat in January, against consensus for a 0.1% rise, while the core was up in line with expectations at 0.2%.
Across the Atlantic, equities gained ground following upbeat corporate earnings results, including those from Dutch brewer Heineken and chemicals manufacturer Akzo Nobel.
Crude oil is up 2.28% to $54.31 per barrel. Natural gas is down 3.79% to $2.586 per 1 million BTU. Gold is up 0.18% to $1,316.40 an ounce, while silver is up 0.03% to $15.695 an ounce. Copper is up 0.09% to $2.7745 per pound.
Among energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund is up 2.28% to $11.42 with the United States Natural Gas Fund is down 2.86% to $23.13. Among precious-metal funds, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF is up 0.59% to $22.19 while SPDR Gold Shares are up 0.23% to $124.14. The iShares Silver Trust is up 0.07% to $14.74.
Here's where the markets stood at mid-day:
US MARKETS
NYSE Composite Index is up 0.53% to 12,504.10
Dow Jones Industrial Index is up 0.51% to 25,555.57
S&P 500 is up 0.40% to 2,755.76
Nasdaq Composite Index is up 0.14% to 7,428.83
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
FTSE 100 is up 0.74% to 7,186.38
DAX is up 0.69% to 11,202.25
CAC 40 is up 0.46% to 5,079.87
Nikkei 225 is up 0.34% to 21,144.48
Hang Seng Index is up 1.16% to 28,497.59
Shanghai China Composite Index is up 1.84% to 2,721.07
NYSE SECTOR INDICES
NYSE Energy Sector Index is up 0.36% to 7,694.29
NYSE Financial Sector Index is up 0.36% to 7,694.23
NYSE Healthcare Sector Index is down 0.07% to 15,765.19
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) RWLK (+28.1%) Says Cigna adopts policy change for coverage of personal exoskeleton devices
(+) LSCC (+27.1%) Meets Q4 adjusted earnings estimates, beats revenue
(+) GSUM (+10.4%) Partners with New H3C Group
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) TEVA (-8.7%) Reports mixed Q4 results
(-) GRPN (-13.6%) Reports mixed Q4 results
(-) MDR (-22.3%) Sees $168 million impact related to the Cameron LNG project
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
