Dow Ends Sharply Higher Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting at G-20
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose Friday as Wall Street prepared for talks between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jingping at the G-20 meeting.
- Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW – Get Report) fell 2% after the cybersecurity company posted earnings and an outlook that topped Wall Street’s forecasts.
- VMware Inc. (VMW – Get Report) rose 3% after the software company posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter sales in its cloud computing business.
Wall Street Overview
Stocks ended higher on Friday, Nov. 30, as investors kept an eye on the start of the G-20 summit in Argentina and prepped for the scheduled showdown between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jingping that could end or intensify the ongoing trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 200 points, or 0.8%, to 25,538, the S&P 500 rose 0.8%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.8%. The gains were enough to push the Dow and S&P 500 into positive teritory for the month. Both were up 1% in November. The Nasdaq ended the month off 0.4%.
Trump formally signed on Friday a three-way trade deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico that will replace the existing NAFTA. The move appears to have boosted investor hopes that the weekend’s talks between Trump and the Chinese leader could ease ongoing trade tensions.
Trump told reporters in Washington Thursday that he was “very close” to doing a deal with China, but doesn’t know if he wants to. Peter Navarro, a noted hawk on China trade who has clashed with Trump’s team in the past is attending both the G-20 summit and the Saturday dinner that Trump and Xi had scheduled earlier this week.
The 11th-hour addition of Navarro to the Trump side could change the tone and complexion of the talks, particularly because China has insisted on being treated as an equal to the United States if it’s going to cede to any major changes that reduce its annual $375 billion trade deficit.
