Stocks ended higher on Friday, Nov. 30, as investors kept an eye on the start of the G-20 summit in Argentina and prepped for the scheduled showdown between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jingping that could end or intensify the ongoing trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 200 points, or 0.8%, to 25,538, the S&P 500 rose 0.8%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.8%. The gains were enough to push the Dow and S&P 500 into positive teritory for the month. Both were up 1% in November. The Nasdaq ended the month off 0.4%.
Trump formally signed on Friday a three-way trade deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico that will replace the existing NAFTA. The move appears to have boosted investor hopes that the weekend's talks between Trump and the Chinese leader could ease ongoing trade tensions.
Trump told reporters in Washington Thursday that he was "very close" to doing a deal with China, but doesn't know if he wants to. Peter Navarro, a noted hawk on China trade who has clashed with Trump's team in the past is attending both the G-20 summit and the Saturday dinner that Trump and Xi had scheduled earlier this week.
The 11th-hour addition of Navarro to the Trump side could change the tone and complexion of the talks, particularly because China has insisted on being treated as an equal to the United States if it's going to cede to any major changes that reduce its annual $375 billion trade deficit.
Trump Signs Re-Vamped NAFTA Agreement, Says Congress Will Pass 'Historic' DealCybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) fell 2% on Friday after posting fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.17 a share, beating estimates of $1.05, and revenue of $656 million, higher than estimates of $632.1 million.
Palo Alto said it expects adjusted earnings of $1.20 to $1.22 a share in its fiscal second quarter on revenue of $675 million to $685 million. Wall Street expects earnings of $1.20 a share on revenue of $669 million.
5 Takeaways from Palo Alto Networks' Upbeat Earnings Report and Call"Cybersecurity is a secular need, especially as more information and applications move to the cloud, and this company is the clear-cut best provider in the space'" wrote Jim Cramer and the Action Alerts PLUS team, which holds shares of Palo Alto in the charitable trust portfolio.
VMware Inc. (VMW) rose 3% after the software company posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter sales in its cloud computing business.
VMware said sales in its fiscal third quarter rose 14% to $2.2 billion and topped Wall Street forecasts as license revenue jumped 17% to $884 million. Net income for the quarter fell 15.4% to $334 million, partly from a $161 million charge based on its investment in Pivotal Software.
VMware also lifted its earnings and revenue guidance for the full year.
VMware Surges as Cloud Sales Jump, Setting Up Tracking Stock Headache for DellPVH Corp. (PVH) rose 0.7% on Friday despite weakness in its Calvin Klein brand pulling third-quarter sales for the apparel maker below Wall Street estimates and after it cautioned that tariffs on clothing imports from China could hit its bottom line.
PVH Shares Slides After Sales Miss, China Tariffs CautionMarriott International Inc. (MAR) said Friday it was working to resolve a massive data breach that could have affected as many as 500 million customers and could have disclosed their passport numbers and credit card details.
The stock fell 6%.
Marriott: Massive Data Breach May Put 500 Million Guests' Information at Risk