US: Tech, energy shares lead stocks higher

[NEW YORK] Technology and petroleum-linked shares were among the winners on Tuesday as US stocks shrugged off trade worries and finished higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4 per cent to 25,971.06.

The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 0.4 per cent to 2,887.91, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.6 per cent to 7,972.47.

Stocks had opened the session in the red on continued anxiety over US trade fights with China and yawning trade negotiations with Canada and the European Union.

But sentiment shifted later in the day following strong data on small business confidence, said Karl Haeling of LBBW.

"Stocks kind of wanted to go up anyway" amid largely positive data that has shown the relative strength of the United States compared with other economies, Haeling said.

Large technology shares, under pressure in recent sessions, pushed higher, with Apple jumping 2.5 per cent ahead of the expected launch Wednesday of new iPhones.

Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook all won at least one per cent.

Petroleum-linked companies were another strong sector, with Dow member ExxonMobil rising 1.4 per cent, Apache 1.8 per cent and Halliburton 1.8 per cent following a rise in oil prices due to a possible hit to oilfield infrastructure from Hurricane Florence.

Key data releases later in the week include reports on inflation and retail sales, as well as the Federal Reserve's "Beige Book" of economic conditions around the United States.

AFP