Wall St. up; Dow a point from 20,000
The Dow came within one point of 20,000 for the first time on Friday and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached record highs, boosted by Apple, extending a two-month rally fueled by optimism about US President-elect Donald Trump.
Apple climbed 1.1% after Canada’s Competition Bureau did not find sufficient evidence the iPhone maker had engaged in anti-competitive conduct, closing a two-year investigation into the company.
On Friday, the Bank of Israel set its representative rate for the US dollar at NIS 3.8430, for the British pound at NIS 4.7593, for the Canadian dollar at NIS 2.8996, for the Australian dollar at NIS 2.8208, and for the South African rand at NIS 0.2818. The bank set the representative rate for the euro at NIS 4.0742 and for 100 yen at NIS 3.3142.
Wall Street has been on a tear since Trump won the US election in November, with the Dow up 9% as investors bet he will stimulate the economy with lower taxes and infrastructure spending. While Friday’s gains suggested the rally was not yet over, some investors have grown cautious.
“The market’s advance is understandable because of the economic stimulus optimism associated with a new Trump presidency,” said CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stovall. “But parabolic market advances traditionally experience digestion of these gains, and I don’t think this time will be any different.”
The record trading session followed a US Labor Department report that showed the economy added fewer-than-expected jobs last month but wages increased, suggesting resilience in the labor market.
Stocks did not react significantly to a report that five people were dead in a shooting at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale airport.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64.51 points, or 0.32%, to end at 19,963.8 points. The index rose as high as 19,999.63 but lost ground. Goldman Sachs rose 1.48%, helping the Dow more than any other stock.
The S&P 500 gained 7.98 points, or 0.35%, to 2,276.98, its highest close ever. The Nasdaq Composite added 33.12 points, or 0.6%, to 5,521.06, also a record.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, led by the technology sector’s 0.96% gain.
For the week, the Dow rose 1% while the S&P gained 1.7% and the Nasdaq jumped 2.6%.
Investors eye earnings
The strength of fourth-quarter earnings reports from US companies over the next few weeks will be closely watched by investors eyeing high stock valuations.
Following its recent gains, the S&P 500 is trading at about 17 times expected earnings, pricey compared to its 10-year average of 14, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.
Analysts on average expect fourth-quarter earnings to rise 6.1% compared to a year before, when slumping oil prices crippled energy companies, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
During the session, Amgen rose 2.48% after a US district judge blocked Sanofi and Regeneron from selling their cholesterol drug, which Amgen said infringed its patents. Regeneron fell 5.84% and was the biggest percentage loser on the S&P 500.