Techs, Financials Drive US Stocks Up   08/19 09:44

   Stocks marched broadly higher on Wall Street in early trading Monday, 
building on solid gains for the market after a rally late last week.

   (AP) -- Stocks marched broadly higher on Wall Street in early trading 
Monday, building on solid gains for the market after a rally late last week.

   Technology stocks accounted for a big share of the gains after the U.S. gave 
Chinese telecom giant Huawei another 90 days to buy equipment from American 
suppliers. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 4.8%.

   Financial stocks also rose as bond prices headed lower, sending yields 
higher. 

   That's a reversal from much of August, when the escalating trade war between 
the U.S. and China prompted investors to seek the safety of U.S. government 
bonds, sending yields sharply lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note 
climbed to 1.60% from 1.54% late Friday.

   Stocks are coming off their third weekly loss in a row as investors try to 
parse conflicting signals on the U.S. economy and determine whether a recession 
is on the horizon.

   Last week, many stock indexes around the world struck their lowest levels 
this year, before a late rally suggested some calm was returning to the markets 
in what is a traditionally low-volume time of the year. Nonetheless, analysts 
say the concerns that drove last week's sell-off could resurface at any time.

   "Markets actually ended last week on a relatively good note so what we may 
actually be witnessing right now is traders relishing the blissful trade war 
silence rather than anything more optimistic," said Craig Erlam, senior market 
analyst at OANDA.

   KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 was up 1% as of 10:20 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow 
Jones Industrial Average rose 216 points, or 0.8%, to 26,103. The Nasdaq 
climbed 1.1%.

   Major stock indexes in Europe also rose. 

   CONFLICTING SIGNALS: The steadier mood was evident in the fact that markets 
appeared to shrug off a report showing that one-third of economists surveyed by 
the National Association for Business Economics said they believe a slowing 
U.S. economy will tip into recession in 2021. That's up from 25% in the 
equivalent survey taken in February.

   President Donald Trump spent a good portion of the last week tweeting about 
the U.S. economy from his New Jersey golf club, trying to allay concerns of 
recession and offering an optimistic outlook for the economy after last week's 
steep drop in the financial markets.

   "I don't think we're having a recession," Trump told reporters Sunday as he 
returned to Washington from his New Jersey golf club.

   TRADE WAR: Investors are weighing how much of an impact the trade conflict 
between Washington and Beijing will have on global economies, some of which are 
already showing signs of slowing.

   Earlier this month, Trump announced plans to extend tariffs across virtually 
all Chinese imports, many of them consumer products that were exempt from early 
rounds of tariffs. The tariffs have been delayed, but ultimately will raise 
costs for U.S. companies bringing goods in from China.

   NO MAKEUP REQUIRED: Estee Lauder jumped 8.9% after the cosmetics company's 
latest quarterly results topped Wall Street's forecasts. The company's fiscal 
year earnings and revenue outlook also came in ahead of expectations. 


(BE)