Dow and Nasdaq Hit Record Highs as Bond Markets Steady - TheStreet

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq hit intraday highs on Thursday, Jan. 11, as a rebound in bond yields offset trade tensions linked to Donald Trump's warning on Nafta membership for the U.S.

The Dow rose 94 points, or 0.37%. The blue-chip index was led by General Electric Co. (GE) , Boeing Co. (BA) and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) . The S&P 500 gained 0.36%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.32%. Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares rose 0.5%.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapped six-day winning streaks on Wednesday, Jan. 10, on concerns over the rapid rise in U.S. Treasury bond yields and suggestions from Trump that he was prepared to exit the North American Free Trade Agreement if it wasn't comprehensively re-negotiated.

Global bond markets steadied on Thursday after officials in China dismissed a report that suggested it could slow or even halt its future purchases of U.S. government debt as "fake news." Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields traded at 2.561%.

The U.S. dollar index, which benchmarks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, weakened to 91.85 as Treasury bond yields fell from their 10-month peak as officials in China disputed a Bloomberg News report that suggested the country, which holds the world's biggest position in U.S. government bonds, could halt further purchases and direct their massive foreign currency reserves to other asset classes.

U.S. producer prices in December fell 0.1%, slipping for the first time in more than a year.

Walmart Stores Inc. (WMT)  said Thursday it would pay a one-time bonus to its U.S. workforce and boost its minimum wage to $11 an hour following last year's overhaul of U.S. corporate taxes.  

The wage boost will take effect on Feb. 17, the company said, and will add $300 million to its 2018 budget while the bonuses of up to $1,000 paid to "eligible associates" in the U.S. with at least 20 years' service will add an additional $400 million to costs over the company's fiscal year, which ends on Jan. 31, Walmart said.

The stock fell 0.2% on Thursday.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) topped analysts' estimates in its fourth-quarter earnings report Thursday and increased its 2018 profit forecast thanks in part to the $1.5 trillion tax cuts passed by Republican lawmakers last year. Shares jumped 1.4%.

Xerox Corp.  (XRX) shares rose 4.4% following a report in The Wall Street Journal that linked it to a merger with Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp. amid pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn to boost returns for the the photocopying and printing icon.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index fell 0.32%, while Asian stocks finished the session mixed.

Global oil prices extended gains after closing at a three-year high on Wednesday as investors again placed bets that falling U.S. crude stocks and slowing production rates will support OPEC's agreed-to output limits. West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, rose 1.6% to $63.58 a barrel.

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