Reports of a trade agreement between the U.S. and China pushed global stock prices sharply higher today. Chart 1 show the S&P 500 reaching record territory. So did the Nasdaq. Small cap stocks continued to show relative strength. Chart 2 shows the Russell 2000 iShares (IWM) hitting another 52-week high. Eight of eleven stock sectors rose today with financials, technology, and healthcare hitting new records. Energy stocks also had another strong day. While materials hit the highest level in nearly two years (more on that shortly). The three sectors in the red were staples, utilities, and REITS. Those bond proxies were also hurt by a big jump in bond yields which pushed the 10-Year Treasury yield to the highest level in a month. Chart 3 shows the 10-Year Treasury yield jumping 10 basis points to 1.90%. That helped make financials the day's strongest sector which were led higher by banks, life insurers, and asset managers.
Chart 1
Chart 2
Chart 3
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt of an article that was originally published in John Murphy's Market Message on Thursday, December 12th at 5:08pm ET. Click here to read the full article.
