Major US stock indexes finished the session mostly in positive territory, while the DJIA index updated a record high. Investors evaluated the long-awaited proposals to reduce taxes, promulgated by the Republicans, which caused deep skepticism about the adoption of the bill. In addition, traders were waiting for news about who will become the next head of the Fed.

President of the United States Donald Trump nominated Jerome Powell as chairman of the Fed, which, in the case of Senate Powell's approval in February, will be replaced by Janet Yellen. The White House expects that the candidature of Powell will be approved by the senators. It is worth emphasizing that the US president did not renew the powers of the current chairman of the Fed for the first time in 40 years. After the decision of Trump, the head of the Fed, Yellen congratulated Powell on his nomination, and expressed confidence that Powell is committed to the mission of the Fed.

The focus was also on the US data. The Ministry of Labor reported that the number of Americans applying for new unemployment benefits fell last week, despite the fact that Puerto Rico, devastated by hurricanes, has just begun processing the lagging applications. Initial applications for unemployment benefits, an indicator of layoffs across all US states, fell by 5,000 to 229,000, seasonally adjusted for the week ending October 28. Economists had expected 235,000 initial hits last week.

A separate report from the Ministry of Labor showed that productivity in the non-agricultural sector, measured as goods and services produced per hour, increased by 3.0%, seasonally adjusted in the third quarter, compared to a growth rate of 1.5% in the second quarter of 2017. Economists had expected growth of 2.4% in the last quarter. The output increased by 3.8% compared to the second quarter, while the hours worked - by 0.8%.

Meanwhile, the index of business activity in New York improved moderately last month, but was below forecasts. According to the data, the index, assessing the economic conditions in the manufacturing and services sectors for companies registered in New York, rose in October to 51.6 points from 49.7 points in September. Economists predicted that the index will rise to 56.8 points. At the same time, the index reflecting economic conditions in 6 months, has improved to 62.6 points against 58.4 points in September.

Components of the DOW index finished trading mixed (13 in negative, 17 in positive territory). The leader of growth was the shares of The Boeing Company (BA, + 1.72%). Outsider was the shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (HD, -1.72%).

Most sectors of the S & P index recorded a decline. The largest decrease was shown by the sector of conglomerates (-1.9%). The financial sector grew most (+ 0.6%).

At closing:

DJIA + 0.35% 23.516.06 +81.05

Nasdaq -0.02% 6,714.94 -1.59

S & P + 0.02% 2.579.85 + 0.49