U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia says President Trump’s executive orders on unemployment benefits were done to find a way to get additional support for Americans who are out of work.
U.S. equity futures are trading with small gains ahead of the start of the Wednesday session on Wall Street.
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The parade of retail earnings continues before the opening bell with results from Lowe’s,Target and TJX Cos.
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Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% to 23,121.32 after the country reported its exports fell 19% in July from a year earlier, better than expected and an improvement over a 26.2% drop in June.
JAPAN’S EXPORTS PLUNGE AMID CRUSH FROM CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
There was a nearly 21% decline in exports to the U.S. which was much better than the 50.6% slump in May.
Worries over trade tensions between the U.S. and China, which threaten to further disrupt trade between the two nations pulled the Shanghai Composite lower by 1.2%.
Markets in Hong Kong were closed due to a tropical storm.
In Europe, London’s FTSE is down 0.4%, Germany’s DAX is off 0.2% and France’s CAC is lower by 0.3%.
In Tuesday’s trading, the S&P 500 picked up 0.2% to 3,389.78, surpassing its previous record closing high of 3,386.15. It was set on Feb. 19, before the pandemic shut down businesses around the world and knocked economies into their worst recessions in decades.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 27778.07 | -66.84 | -0.24% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3389.78 | +7.79 | +0.23% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 11210.843358 | +81.12 | +0.73% |
The S&P 500′s milestone caps a furious, 51.5% rally that began in late March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 27,778.07 and is still 6% below its record set in February. The Nasdaq composite had already returned to a record, thanks to huge gains for the big tech stocks that dominate it. It hit a new one Tuesday, climbing 0.7%, to 11,210.84.
Investors are still waiting to see if Congress and the White House can put aside their differences and agree on more aid that analysts say is needed to sustain the recovery that investors have been assuming is on the way. That assumption is a huge reason the stock market is as high as it is.
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In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude for September delivery lost 27 cents to $42.62 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was unchanged at $42.89 per barrel on Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
