Stocks close out stellar quarter on upbeat note

Mar. 29, 2019 4:25 PM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Stocks scored solid gains across the board, boosted by news of "constructive" trade talks between the U.S. and China this week in Beijing, according to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and the White House.

U.S. officials said China had made proposals on a range of issues that go further than it has before, including on forced technology transfer.

The S&P 500 closed out the quarter with its best showing since 2009 and its best start to a year since 1998; the S&P jumped 13.1% in Q1 while the Dow gained 11.2% and the Nasdaq popped 16.5% for the quarter.

For the day, health care (+1.2%), industrials (+1%) and information technology (+1%) topped the S&P 500 sector leaderboard while energy (-0.2%) and real estate (-0.1%) were the lone groups to finish with losses.

U.S. Treasurys ended the week on a lower note, sending the two-year yield 4 bps higher to 2.27% and the 10-year yield up by 3 bps to 2.41%.

U.S. WTI crude oil settled +1.4% at $60.14/bbl, the highest close since Nov. 9.