Wall Street ends the month higher, although on the back foot on diminished trade deal hops

• The benchmarks cracked monthly gains, but sag into last day on trade deal concerns. 
• The DJIA was ending 140.46 points lower, losing 0.5% to  27,046.23.

On Wallstreet, the benchmarks cracked monthly gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, DJIA, rising 0.5% for the month of October, while the S&P 500 rose 2% and the Nasdaq climbed 3.7%. However, despite ending well off session lows, for the day, stocks ended lower due to renewed concerns over a US and China trade deal while more evidence of a slowdown in manufacturing and mixed corporate earnings kicked in.

The DJIA was ending 140.46 points lower, losing 0.5% to  27,046.23. The S&P 500 index lost 9.21 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 3,037.56 while the Nasdaq Composite Index was losing 11.62 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 8,292.36. Considering a record close for the S&P 500 following yesterday's third hawkish Fed cut since July, it begs the question as to where the top might be for US benchmarks. 

Lower trade deal expectations

"US-China trade war woes are once again creeping back into global market sentiment," analysts at ANZ Bank noted.

"Despite the cancellation of the APEC meeting in Chile, where Trump and Xi were likely to meet, the two sides appear to be on track towards signing the Phase One agreement. However, Chinese officials have reportedly voiced their low expectations that negotiations beyond Phase One will result in any meaningful change in trade relations. Both US equities and yields dipped on the news."

As for data, the "PCE deflator for September continued to point to a benign inflation climate, coming in flat m/m to be up 1.3% yoy, although that was largely a function of falling energy prices, with the core PCE (ex-food and energy) coming in at 1.7% y/y. Meanwhile, personal spending rose 0.2% m/m and income rose 0.3% mom," analysts at ANZ Bank explained

DJIA levels