President Donald Trump again said a trade deal with China is “VERY close” before following that up with another tweeting asserting he is willing to cancel the Dec. 15 tariffs, propelling the markets higher and more in Thursday’s Closing Bell on Money and Markets.

Trump also suggested he could be willing to cut current tariffs on Chinese goods in half in order to bring a deal with Beijing closer to fruition, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Later Thursday, media reports suggested Washington and Beijing reached a deal in principle and were just awaiting sign-off from Trump.

A 15% tariff on nearly $160 billion in Chinese goods is set to take effect on Sunday, Dec. 15.

Money and Markets: Closing Bell

S&P 500: 3,168 (+27 points, +0.8%)
DOW: 28132 (+220 points, +0.8%)
NASDAQ: 8717 (+63 points, +0.7%)
GOLD: $1,463.70 (-$5.10, -0.3%*)
BITCOIN: $7,239.40 (+0.9%)
U.S. 10-YEAR YIELD: 1.89%
*As of 4 p.m.

Golden Nuggets

While U.S. stocks enjoyed a rally thanks to reports of a possible U.S.-China trade deal, the price of February gold futures took a big hit — dropping from $1,490 to below $1,470 an ounce.

February gold closed Thursday down 0.2% to $1.473.

While gold took a hit, palladium continued its rise. Midday Thursday, spot palladium was up to $1,922 an ounce — higher than gold’s peak of $1,911 from back in 2011, according to Commerzbank analysts.

March silver jumped 0.6% to $16.949 an ounce — a fourth consecutive gain.

Cannabis Corner

Cannabis giant Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC) unveiled a new First & Free line of CBD hemp oil products Thursday, which pushed its shares up in premarket trading, and again in midday activity, up nearly 4%. Shares settled in just above $21 each, up 4.6% to $21.18 just before the closing bell.

Canopy Growth Corp 12-12-19 stock chart

 

Stock Market Update

Thanks to the above-mentioned tweet from Trump, markets moved higher Thursday as investors seemed pleased with possible movement on the U.S.-China trade war front.

The S&P 500 index was up almost 0.9% a few minutes before the closing bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was rose 0.9%, to 28,156 while the Nasdaq was up 0.8%.

TODAY’S BIGGEST WINNERS:

(as of 3:15 p.m. EST)

JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) +2.98%

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (Nasdaq: WYNN) +8.86%

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) +3.10%

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) +5.56%

TODAY’S BIGGEST LOSERS:

(as of 3:15 p.m. EST)

Lululemon Athletica (Nasdaq: LULU) –4.12%

Align Technologies (Nasdaq: ALGN) -2.99%

Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) –1.61%

Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) -3.09%

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