US stocks close mostly higher, log weekly gains

Most of the main US stock indices rebounded at close today, to erase the earlier losses and turn higher with weekly gains, as Nasdaq and S&P 500 jumped to fresh record highs.

This came despite the release of mixed data today, which showed that the US retail sales rose by 0.3% in January, while the industrial production fell by 0.3%.

China is still struggling to contain the coronavirus outbreak, as it revealed today that the death toll rose to 1,400 people, and over 60,000 infected cases.

White House chief economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, stated today that President Trump is preparing tax cut proposal for middle-class families, which will remove taxes from US shares.

To the oil market, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 1.2% to close at $52.05 a barrel, and posted a 3.4% weekly gain, with an intraday high of $52.3 and a low of $51.3.

Brent rose 1.7% to $57.32 a barrel, with a weekly gain of 5.2%, a high of $57.5 and a low of $56.1.

As for stocks, Dow Jones slipped less than 0.1% or 25 points to settle at 29,398, and posted weekly gain of 2.2%, with a session-high of 29,398 and a low of 29,283.

Nasdaq rose 0.2% or 19 points to 9,731, with weekly gain of 1%, a high of 9,746 and a low of 9,693.

S&P 500 also rose 0.2% or 6 points to close at 3,380, with a weekly gain of 1.6%, and hit a high of 3,380 and a low of 3,366.