Stocks shine on Trump tax cut pledge

New York - Wall Street stocks hit records again on Friday after President Trump's promise to announce action soon on tax cuts revived hopes for US growth policies under the new president.

European markets also finished modestly higher, while the Nikkei in Tokyo piled on 2.5% on a lower yen.

At a meeting on Thursday with airline executives, Trump said he would release details of a "phenomenal" tax cut plan in the next two or three weeks.

The comments revived hopes of a pro-growth agenda from Washington that had seemingly taken a back-burner to controversial Trump trade and immigration stances in his early days in office.

All three major US indices surged to records on Thursday in the hours after the news. The rally continued on Friday, with all three indices again posting records.

"Yet again we see the magic of (Trump's) words," said Gregori Volokhine, president of Meeschaert Capital Markets. "All the market needs to set new records is to put the word 'phenomenal' next to taxes."

The comments from Trump came amid rising impatience from investors, who have sought specifics on taxes and other growth plans.

A number of controversies have dominated news from Washington since Trump's inauguration, including a bruising public war with Mexico over Trump's promise to build a wall to prevent immigrants from illegally entering and the new president's executive order on immigration that has now been blocked by two US courts.

"Trump has started making the right noises again as far as markets are concerned, with Thursday's promise of a 'phenomenal' tax announcement in the coming weeks certainly hitting all the right notes," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda trading group.

"Investors have become a little apprehensive in recent weeks due to the unpredictable nature of Trump's policies and the timing of the announcements which has taken the edge off moves we saw heading into year-end," he said.

"The market moved on hype more than substance, comforted by the notion that the hype will ultimately translate into pro-growth, legislative substance," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

In other markets, oil prices rallied after the International Energy Agency said in a report that Opec countries are largely complying with a landmark deal to reduce the global oil glut.

The dollar advanced against the euro and other currencies on expectations of US tax cuts.