Wall Street made nominal progress on Nov 5, given the record highs major indexes reached on Monday. American stocks closed mostly higher, deriving optimism from the much-expected U.S.-China trade deal and the U.S service sector’s activity increasing at a faster pace in October.The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.1% and 0.02% respectively on Nov 5. The former finished at 27,492.63 and the latter closed at 8,434.68 on Tuesday. The S&P 500, however, declined 0.1% to settle at 3,074.62.The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 3.5% to close at 13.28 on Nov 5. Finally, decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.12-to-1 ratio.Optimism over U.S.-China Trade NegotiationsInvestor optimism over the much-anticipated U.S.-China trade agreement lingered on Tuesday as well, dragging stocks higher. There was progress in trade negotiations as Chinese officials tried to persuade President Donald Trump to drop U.S. tariffs on about $125 billion worth of Chinese goods as part of the phase one of the trade agreement.China also remained focussed on getting rid of the new block of tariffs set to be imposed on its exports to the United States from December 15.US Service Sector Bounces Back The Institute for Supply Management reported on Tuesday that its non-manufacturing index increased to 54.7% in October from a 52.6% reading in September. September’s reading was the weakest in three years. The non-manufacturing sector, thus, witnessed decent expansion for the 117th consecutive month.The index of business activity registered 57% in October, a 1.8 percentage points increase from September’s reading. October’s climb up marks growth in business activity for the 123rd consecutive month. The index of non-manufacturing new orders also added 1.9 percentage points, registering a reading of 55.6% in October from 53.7% in the prior month.The non-manufacturing sector added more new jobs in October as well. The non-manufacturing employment index registered 53.7% in October, up 3.3 percentage points from September’s 50.4%.Remarkable Q3 Earnings Season Holds GroundShares of Vericel Corporation VCEL added 12.9% on Nov 5 after the commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues for the quarter ended September 2019.Vericel reported earnings per share of 11 cents, easily surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate 5 cents. Revenues in the reported quarter were also higher than expected. The company posted revenues of $31.3 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $29.2 million. Vericel carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. (Read more)Shares of Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. CCRN added 4.8% on Tuesday after the company reported Q3 earnings of $0.05 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.01. The company’s revenues of $209.20 million for the said quarter also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.20%. Cross Country Healthcare carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). (Read more)Just Released: Zacks’ 7 Best Stocks for TodayExperts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +24.5% per year.These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout.See these time-sensitive tickers now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (CCRN): Free Stock Analysis Report Vericel Corporation (VCEL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research