Tuesday's Market Open: Stocks Higher On Trade Optimism

After sending the Dow Jones Industrial to a record high, traders pushed higher at the open Tuesday on optimism over a trade deal with China.

Shortly after non, the Dow opened up nearly 30 points to 27,489 while the S&P 500 reversed course, heading down 3 points to 3,075 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 9 points to 8,441.

The Commerce Department reported U.S. trade with China tumbled in September following the escalation of the trade war. Imports from China fell 4.9% from August to $37 billion, the lowest level in three years. U.S. exports to China plunged 10% to a five-month low as exports to Italy rose to a record $2.3 billion. Petroleum exports hit a record low of $27.6 billion and imports of industrial supplies and materials were at a two-year low of $41.9 billion.

A senior U.S. administration official said late Monday tariffs are a key talking point in the ongoing trade talks and some tariffs likely will be rolled back as part of a preliminary deal. The official said the Chinese have agreed to take the trade deal in steps. Phase 1 of the pact, which is scheduled to be signed this month, focuses mainly on agricultural products and could head off another round of tariffs that are scheduled to take effect Dec. 15.

China’s yuan rallied to 7 per dollar for the first time since August. China, meanwhile, moved to reduce its dependence on the dollar, selling bonds in euros – 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) -- for the first time in more than a decade. China sold $3 billion in U.S. dollars last year and $2 billion in 2017.

Institute for Supply Management service sector index jumped 2.1 points to 54.7, underscoring the gap between the service sector economy and the manufacturing sector.

"The headwinds we have are the obvious with the trade war but there's been some progress made on that front so that's also helping the commercial, corporate psyche," Anthony Nieves, the survey's chairman, told reporters, adding that October’s numbers point to a strong fourth quarter.

Thirteen industries showed growth. Educational and other services along with wholesale trade declined.

Global markets continued Monday’s rally.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed up 0.49% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.76% and China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 0.54%. Australia’s S&P/ASX closed up 0.15%.

In Europe, London’s FTSE closed up 0.31% while the German was on the positive side of the flat line, up 0.09%, and the French CAC 40 added 0.39%. The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.2%.

On currency markets, the British pound was off 0l07% at $1.2873 while the euro was off 0.5% to $1.1073. the U.S. dollar index gained 0.47%.

Oil futures were higher. Crude oil added 1.2% to $57.24 while Brent crude was up 1.21% to $63.88. Gold and silver were lower.