Stocks closed higher Monday as major indexes bounced back from earlier losses as renewed confidence in the strength of the U.S. economy offset lingering worries over the U.S.-China trade dispute. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.14% rose 34.31 points, or 0.1%, to end at 24,423.26, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.18% gained 4.64 points, or 0.2%, to 2,637.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.74% advanced 51.27 points, or 0.7%, to close at 7,020.52.
At session lows, the Dow had lost more than 500 points, while the S&P had shed 50 points and the Nasdaq had been down 81 points. The S&P 500 closed 1.9% above its intraday low, its biggest such bounce since Feb. 6; the Dow closed 2.1% above its session low for its biggest intraday, upside reversal since April 4, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Concerns over global growth as well as trade woes overshadowed the market in early going after latest data showing a sharp slowdown in Chinese export growth reinforced fears that the best of the current bull market is behind us. However, the belief that the U.S. economy, at least, could continue to grow at a healthy pace into next year and beyond neutralized some of the worst jitters, in part due to comments from influential banks such as J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs that fears about U.S. economic growth are overblown.
Their views are supported by several indicators, including the ISM survey which shows resilient demand. The Labor Department also said U.S. job openings rose to 7.08 million in October, from 6.96 million a month earlier. But trade worries have also been getting in the way of traditional end-of-year gains. China’s Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng summoned the U.S. ambassador on Sunday to insist the U.S. withdraw its arrest warrant on Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who was detained on Dec. 1 in Canada.
