Fresh record closing highs for both the S&P500 and Nasdaq for a second straight session, with investor sentiment buoyed by news that the Trump administration had cut a preliminary bilateral trade agreement with Mexico - Dow up +259-points or 1.0% (to 26,049.64) to close back above >26,000 for the first time since 1 February. Global trade bellwethers Caterpillar Inc (up +2.8%) and Boeing Co (+1.3%) were among the leading index performers as were a number of the banks (with Goldman Sachs Inc up +3.5% and alone adding ~56-points to the index) The broader S&P500 rose +0.77% (to 2,896.74), with Materials (up +1.47%) and Financials (+1.34%) leading nine of the eleven primary sectors higher. NASDAQ +0.91% (to 8,017.90), breaking above >8,000 points for the first time. Apple Inc rose +0.9% after Bloomberg reported that the company plans to launch three new iPhones including a lower end model available in a variety of colour choices. Two higher end phones will reportedly have OLED screens (like the iPhone X) and let users view apps side by side. Telsa Inc fell -1.10% after Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk axed plans to take the Silicon Valley car maker private. It took the technology centric index 164 trading days to rose 1,000 points from 7,000 to 8,000 and marks the second 1,000-point advance for the Nasdaq this year - something that has not happened since 1999. Elsewhere, Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway confirmed it has invested in One97 Communications Ltd, the parent company of the largest mobile payment company in India, Paytm. President Trump also said the preliminary trade agreement with Mexico would help to replace the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), adding that talks with Canada to join a reworked trade deal would begin soon.
