The S&P 500 hit a new record high at the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, as investors were reassured by the approval of a trade agreement between Washington and Beijing, while digesting a new index of inflation in the United States.
The S&P 500 surpassed its all-time high in February, erasing all losses caused by uncertainty over Donald Trump's economic policy.
The broader index was up 0.34% at 6,162.20 points at 1:50 PM GMT. The technology-heavy Nasdaq index was trading close to its record high (+0.32%), and the Dow Jones was up 0.53%.
"Anything that promotes trade and allays fears of trade wars (...) will make the market happy," Kim Forrest of Bokeh Capital Partners told AFP.
The White House reported progress in trade talks with China on Thursday, with an official saying the two sides had agreed on an agreement to accelerate shipments of rare earths to the United States.
China's Ministry of Commerce confirmed "the details" of the agreement on Friday morning, saying the United States would "lift a series of restrictive measures" against Beijing.
The agreement follows talks in Geneva in May, in which both sides agreed to temporarily reduce prohibitive tariffs on each other's products.
In terms of indicators, the PCE index for May, the inflation gauge favored by the US central bank (Fed), showed that price increases accelerated again in May in the United States, in line with analysts' expectations.
Prices rose by 2.3% year-on-year in May, compared to 2.2% the previous month (an upwardly revised value; the index had been announced as rising by 2.1% in April).
These data "are not necessarily bad. The market has not been disrupted by it," says Ms. Forrest.
However, consumer spending fell 0.1% month-on-month, while household income fell 0.4%.
This is "a surprise to most market players," Carl B. Weinberg of HFE said in a note.
In this context, on the bond market, the yield on 10-year US government bonds rose to 4.27%, compared to 4.25% at the close on Thursday.
On the stock market, sports equipment manufacturer Nike soared (+14.84% to $71.84) after publishing declining results for the fourth quarter of its staggered fiscal year on Thursday evening, but better than analysts expected.
Between March and May, the Beaverton, Oregon-based group saw its revenue decline 14% year-on-year to $11.1 billion. The FactSet analyst consensus had forecast $10.73 billion.
Other sportswear specialists benefited from Nike's momentum, such as Lululemon Athletica (+1.45% to $234.93) and the shoemaker Deckers Outdoor (+2.46% to $104.41), which notably controls the Hoka brand of running shoes.
American e-commerce giant Amazon (+1.82% to $221.08) and aircraft manufacturer Boeing (+1.83% to $206.29) were both buoyed by the upward revaluation of their shares by BNP Paribas Exane.
