US stocks posted slight gains on Wednesday after a volatile session kicked off 2019. The Dow Jones closed 18 points higher after dropping nearly 400 points earlier in the day. The Dow finished up +0.08%, the S&P500 was up +0.13% and the NASDAQ rose +0.46%.
Facebook and Amazon rose 3.5% and 2.5% respectively to help the NASDAQ recover its losses. Bank shares erased earlier losses as Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase all climbed more than 1%. Energy stocks also contributed to the move off the lows.
Stocks also fell after The New York Times reported that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has told friends and associates he wants to prevent President Donald Trump from accepting "empty promises" from China on the trade front. The report also says Lighthizer has warned Trump that additional tariffs may be needed to get meaningful concessions from the Chinese.
President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday that there was a "glitch" in the stock market last month, but that equities should recover as the U.S. completes trade deals with countries like China. "Our country is doing far better than any other country in the world. We're the talk of the world," Trump told reporters during an ongoing Cabinet meeting. "We had a little glitch in the stock market last month, but we're still up about 30 percent from the time I got elected." "It's going to go up once we settle trade issues and a couple of other things happen," Trump said. "It's got a long way to go."
