Wall Street
US markets closed in the green following promising moves by President Trump regarding taxes Reuters

US stocks closed in the green on Thursday (9 February) after US President Donald Trump promised a "phenomenal" announcement regarding his tax plan in the next few weeks. The 45th president has vowed to cut taxes, which is expected to have a stimulative effect on asset values.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 118.06 points, or 0.6%, to close at a record 20,172.40. The blue chips gauge managed to hit an intraday all-time high of 20,206.36, according to MarketWatch. Gains were led by Nike Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc, with the help of of Goldman Sachs, which closed up 1.4%.

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The S&P 500 jumped 13.20 points, or 0.6%, to settle at 2,307.87 after reaching an all-time high of 2,311.08. The index traded within a 1% range for the 38th consecutive session, marking its longest streak on record.

Financial sector saw big performers, according to MarketWatch. Morgan Stanley jumped 2.2% and Bank of America Corp saw an increase of 1.8%. Over on the Dow, JP Morgan Chase & Co also rose 1.6%.

Energy stocks also saw gains, with a 1.3% rise in the price of crude oil to $53 (£42.40) a barrel.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite hit a closing record for a third straight session, ticking up 32.73 points, or 0.6%, to close at 5,715.18. According to MarketWatch, the last time the three major indexes all closed at records was 25 January.

"I think it's a combination of investors feeling more confident that some tax package will get worked on. But I think that we also have lower interest rates recently and solid earnings," Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones, told CNBC.

Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth, added: "Those comments about taxes, the markets have been looking forward to that for a while, and that helps. At least we're not talking about Ivanka [Trump]'s dress line over at Nordstrom's."

In the latest economic reports, weekly jobless claims dropped by 12,000 to 234,000 and wholesale trade data for December revealed a 1% increase on inventories, CNBC reported.

US Treasury yields fell, with the benchmark 10-year yield rising to 2.39% and the short-term two-year yield by 1.18%.

Following a sale, the 30-year bonds yielded 3.016%. Gold prices dropped 0.2% to $1,236.80 (£989.44) an ounce. The US dollar surged against a basket of currencies, jumping more than 1% against the yen. By 6.15pm EST (11.15pm GMT), the USD was at £0.80.