Morgans AM: Monday 25 February 2019

Morgans Financial Limited

US markets ended the week on a positive footing amid fresh optimism around the US-China trade negotiations - Dow up +181-points or +0.70% to reclaim the 26,000 mark for the first time since early November last year and log its ninth consecutive weekly advance. The broader S&P500 rose +0.64%, rallying ~0.5% in the closing two hours of trading as the Information Technology (up +1.29%) leading nine of eleven primary sectors higher. The Consumer Staples sector (down -%) was dragged into the red by a -27.5% tumble for Kraft Heinz Co after announcing a US$0.40c cut to its dividend following a poor result announced late last Thursday (21 February) that saw the company write off more than >US$15B related to previous acquisitions and reveal a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation associated with an investigation into the company's procurement area. The NASDAQ +0.91% to also log its ninth straight weekly rise - the longest such streak since May 2009. President Donald Trump met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday. Liu delivered a letter to Trump saying Chinese President Xi Jinping hopes the two countries can redouble efforts to strike a trade deal. The Washington Post reported that deep divisions remain over fundamental issues, with US officials pressing China to halt what Washington calls illicit technology transfers and improper subsidies for state-owned firms. However, President said that there was "a very good chance" that the US would strike a deal with China, adding that the group of negotiators has "been making a lot of progress." The Chinese vice premier expressed similar optimism, saying "We believe that it is very likely that it will happen and we hope that ... we'll have a deal. ... The Chinese side is ready to make our ultimate effort." For the week, the Dow rose +0.57% and S&P500 +0.62%. There are more S&P500 stocks that are up over >25% year-to-date (55) than there are S&P500 stocks that are down year-to-date (34) according to data from Bespoke Invest. The Nasdaq rose +0.74%