US Market finishes modestly higher

The US stock market finished session at fresh an all-time high on Tuesday, 17 December 2019, thanks to encouraging reports on U.S. home construction, industrial production and job openings, with banks and consumer linked stocks led the way higher, outweighing losses in technology and health care stocks. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 31.27 points, or 0.11%, to 28,235.89, the S&P 500 gained 1.07 points, or 0.03%, to 3,192.52 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.13 points, or 0.1%, to 8,823.36.

The market participants risk got a confidence boost after a preliminary trade agreement between the world's two largest economies. Late last week, President Donald Trump and Chinese officials announced that the U.S. and China had agreed to a so-called phase one agreement.

With a phase one U.S.-China trade deal nearing the finishing line and the Federal Reserve likely on hold for the foreseeable future, investors will need to find new sources of inspiration. In the meantime, traders seemed reluctant to cash in on recent strength in the markets amid the release of a batch of upbeat U.S. economic data.

In economic reports, the Commerce Department released a report showing that housing starts surged up by 3.2% to an annual rate of 1.365 million in November from a revised October estimate of 1.323 million. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also climbed by 1.4% to an annual rate of 1.482 million in November from a rate of 1.461 million in October.

A separate report showed U.S. industrial production jumped by 1.1% in November after tumbling by a revised 0.9% in October.

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