Stocks climbed last week following positive rhetoric from high-ranking Chinese officials who plan to meet for another round of trade discussions in Washington next month. This is welcome news for investors who saw the United States and China impose additional tariffs on September 1, with the plan for more of the same in December if negotiations prove fruitless. Optimistic investors pushed stock prices higher as each of the benchmark indexes listed here posted solid gains. Only the small caps of the Russell 2000 failed to gain at least 1.0% for the week. The large caps of the S&P 500 gained over 1.75%, as did the Nasdaq. The Global Dow enjoyed the highest weekly gain, climbing over 2.0%. Year-to-date, these last two weeks have pushed the indexes listed here notably higher, with each posting gains in excess of 10.0%. On the other hand, long-term bond yields jumped last week as bond sell-offs pulled prices lower.
Oil prices advanced last week, closing at $56.60 per barrel by late Friday afternoon, up from the prior week’s price of $55.16. The price of gold (COMEX) fell for the second consecutive week, closing at $1,514.70 by late Friday afternoon, down from the prior week’s price of $1,529.20. The national average retail regular gasoline price was $2.563 per gallon on September 2, 2019, $0.011 lower than the prior week’s price and $0.261 less than a year ago. Click here for more:market-flash 9-9-19