U.S. markets rose to new record highs Thursday after the Senate passed the USMCA trade agreement and much more on Thursday’s Closing Bell on Money and Markets.

The Big Deal

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement by an 89-10 margin, sending the measure to President Donald Trump for his signature.

It came a day after Trump signed a phase one trade deal with China.

The USMCA makes changes to a previous deal by opening up Canadian dairy markets to American producers and adds a requirement that 40% of car parts must be produced in plants where workers make at least $16 per hour.

The deal is seen as a win for the Trump administration and is estimated to increase the U.S. gross domestic product by 0.35% while creating 176,000 new jobs, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Money and Markets: Closing Bell*

S&P 500: 3,316 (+27 points, +0.8%)
DOW: 29,297 (+267 points, +0.9%)
NASDAQ: 9,357 (+98 points, +1%)
GOLD: $1,553.30 (-2.70, -0.1%)
BITCOIN: $8,667.87 (-150.65, -1.7%)
U.S. 10-YEAR YIELD: 1.80%

*- as of 4:24 p.m.

A Big Win

In this morning’s Wall Street Wake-Up we told you about Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) beating revenue and earnings estimates. Shares of Morgan Stanley were up more than 7% in afternoon trading.

Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) shares dropped more than 1% in Thursday afternoon trading after the company was downgraded to “underweight” by Morgan Stanley.

After a strong revenue report, Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) shares ticked up 0.3%.

M&A News

Transportation and logistics provider XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO) reported it was looking for spinoffs of one or more of its business units and asset sales. Shares of XPO jumped nearly 15% in afternoon trading.

Golden Nuggets

As geopolitical tensions eased further Thursday, the price of precious metals fell slightly, according to Kitco News.

Gold dropped $2.70 to $1,553.30 an ounce while silver fell slightly to $17.92 an ounce. Platinum fell to $1,006 an ounce and palladium was up $12 to $2,232.

The price drop came amid Bridgewater Associates CIO Greg Jensen suggesting gold could surge past the $2,000-per-ounce mark as central banks look to prop up low inflation rates.

Cannabis Corner

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) continued to climb in afternoon trading Thursday. Shares closed up 4.8% while fellow cannabis giant Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) fell 2.4%.

Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA) shares fell 0.9% as cannabis stocks continued to have mixed results.

Stock Market Update

U.S. markets climbed to new records Thursday after senators passed a new North American trade deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 267 points, or 0.9% to 29,297. It was the second consecutive day the Dow closed above 29,000.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8% while the Nasdaq rose 1% — based on the strength of technology stocks.

In other market news, U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose slightly. The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was up to 3.65% from 3.64% last week. The rate for a 15-year mortgage went to 3.09% from 3.07% last week.

The National Retail Federation reported holiday sales in the U.S. jumped 4.1% — nearly double the growth seen during the 2018 holiday season.

Today’s Big Winners:

Morgan Stanley (NSYE: MS) +6.6%

IPG Photonics Corp. (Nasdaq: IPGP) +3.7%

Align Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: ALGN) +4%

Western Digital Corp. (Nasdaq: WDC) +3%

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) +2.1%

Today’s Big Losers:

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) -7.8%

Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) -2.3%

PPG Industries Inc. (NYSE: PPG) -2.5%

Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) -0.9%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: REGN) -1.3%

Check back for the most important news and numbers each day after the Closing Bell, only on Money and Markets. 

Don’t forget about “Marijuana Markets: a POTcast,” featuring the biggest cannabis news and investment notes from Banyan Hill’s Anthony Planas, here on Money and Markets each Saturday morning.