Market Roundup: Markets Climb Despite Additional Tariffs

Published: Sept. 9, 2019, 7:13 p.m.

Indices closed down on Tuesday, after taking the Labor Day holiday off. Many stocks traded lower as new China tariffs took effect at the start of September, as negotiations have failed to yield an agreement. In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management's Manufacturing Index dipped to 49.1 in August from 51.2 in July—moving into the contraction zone for the first time in three years. The index remains well above its recession threshold of 42.9. The market reversed direction and closed in green territory on Wednesday, thanks to some good news from overseas. Britain’s plans to exit the European Union appear to be more balanced, and while new tariffs are in place, the United States is committed to continuing trade talks with China in the weeks ahead. The climb upward continued Thursday, as both retailers and tech stocks stepped up on news that U.S.-China trade talks will resume in October. On another note, initial jobless claims rose by 1,000 to 217,000 in the week ended August 31. Elsewhere, private companies added 195,000 jobs in August according to figures from Automatic Data Processing. Economists had anticipated an increase of 150,000 jobs. Indices closed out the week with mixed moves, as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 ended in green territory while the NASDAQ Composite shed some points. Market moves were mixed on a weaker-than-anticipated jobs report for August. The Department of Labor report showed an addition of 130,000 jobs for last month. The result was down from July's growth of 164,000 and was also shy of forecasts for a gain of 160,000.