Tech Sector Leads the Way on Positive Day for Entrepreneur Index™ NVIDIA and other chip-makers were up sharply.
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Investor optimism about the U.S.-China trade negotiations trumped pessimism about the slowing economy -- but just barely.
The tech-heavy Entrepreneur Index™ was up 0.37 percent while the Dow (0.15 percent) and S&P 500 (0.21 percent) indexes eked out smaller gains.
U.S. trade representatives resumed talks with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He in Washington today. The two sides have reportedly resolved most of the outstanding issues between them. Meanwhile, job growth in the U.S. last month was still positive but well below estimates, according to ADP and Moody's Analytics data. The Institute of Supply Management non-manufacturing index also fell to its lowest level in over a year, suggesting the services sector is also slowing down.
Stocks, however, held on to some of the gains from a morning rally. The technology sector led the way. Semiconductor stocks were particularly strong after a Nomura analyst initiated coverage on Advanced Micro Devices with a buy rating. The stock jumped 8.49 percent and pulled along other chipmakers. NVIDIA Corp. was up 3.07 percent -- the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™, and Analog Devices rose 1.6 percent. Twitter (1.87 percent), TripAdvisor Inc. (1.85 percent) and salesforce.com (1.31 percent) were also up nicely.
Tesla bounced back from its first decline in over a week yesterday, rising 2.07 percent. The market is awaiting first quarter sales and production numbers for the company this week and CEO Elon Musk and his lawyers are in court tomorrow for another hearing on the SEC's contempt of court charges against Mr. Musk for Tesla-related Twitter posts.
Wynn Resorts was up again today, gaining 1.93 percent. The casino operator's shares are up eighteen percent in the last week. Other notable gains on the Entrepreneur Index™ were posted by Jefferies Financial Group (1.44 percent), Ford Motor Co. (1.33 percent) and Gap Inc. (1.24 percent).
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had the biggest decline on the index today, falling 1.89 percent. The stock is up 9.2 percent this year, significantly less than the broader market. Oil and gas producer Hess Corp. fell 1.31 percent as the price of oil slipped modestly. Oil has risen convincingly over $60 per barrel in the last week as demand has remained strong and supplies have been disrupted by Midwest floods among other things.
Other declines on the index included Aflac Inc. (-0.99 percent), pipeline manager Kinder Morgan (-0.8 percent) and REIT Kimco Realty Corp. (-0.76 percent).
The Entrepreneur Index™ collects the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time on Entrepreneur.com.
