OPENING CALL: The Australian share market is expected to open higher. The SPI200 futures contract expected to open up 28 points.
A raft of supportive central government policies lifted China’s economic activity-bolstering factory production and consumer spending-which prompted some economists to raise their growth estimates for next year.
Intel is expanding its push into the artificial-intelligence market with an approximately $2 billion deal for Habana Labs, an Israel-based AI chip-making startup.
Overnight Summary
Each Market in Focus
U.S. stocks pushed towards record highs intraday as data signaled an improvement in the Chinese economy, adding to optimism that some of the biggest risks to markets are clearing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 135 points, or 0.5%, to 28271, while the S&P 500 added 0.8%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1%. All three indexes hit intraday records.
The dollar was a touch weaker intraday, as investors grow more confident in overseas economies thanks in part to the preliminary U.S.-China trade agreement and reduced uncertainty about Brexit following last week’s U.K. election.
Despite mixed economic data out of the eurozone, the euro was recently up roughly 0.3% against the dollar at $1.1150. The WSJ Dollar Index was recently down 0.1% at 90.14.
European stocks advanced to a level that would put them at a new record high, gaining ground in a broad-based rally.
The Stoxx Europe 600 jumped 1.29% to 417.34, surpassing the previous closing high of 414.06 reached on April 15, 2015.
consumer spending, improved in November. The better-than-expected results for industrial production and retail sales may help alleviate investors’ concerns about growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
Japanese stocks ended lower in the session after the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average hit a 14-month high. Electronics and auto stocks led the declines, with Panasonic down 2.0% and Aisin Seiki dropping 1.6%. The Nikkei lost 0.3% to 23952.35 as caution toward
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