US: Stocks gain as bond yields stabilise

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday following a recovery in 10-year US Treasury yields, after weakness in bond rates in recent sessions raised worries about slowing economic growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to close the session at 25,717.46.

The broad-based S&P 500 also advanced 0.4 per cent to end at 2,815.44, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index won 0.3 per cent to 7,669.17.

Investors welcomed stabilisation in bond yields, which had tumbled over the last week.

"The market was fearful that the Treasury yields were falling because of recession fears," said Karl Haeling of LBBW.

"The end of the treasury rally took away some of the panic fear."

Earlier, the Commerce Department sharply downgraded the growth estimate for the final quarter of 2018 to 2.2 per cent from the prior estimate of 2.6 per cent, amid lower consumer spending and business investment.

Trade talks between the US and China resumed in Beijing, although officials cautioned that there was still more work ahead before a deal is struck.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the negotiations are not "time dependent" and could be extended.

The talks are "policy and enforcement dependent" so "if it takes a few more weeks or if it takes months, so be it," Mr Kudlow said in a speech in Washington.

T-Mobile fell 4.3 per cent and Sprint 6.1 per cent following a report their merger would be blocked by antitrust regulators. Fellow mobile phone giants Verizon and AT&T also dropped.

AFP