Indexes extend climb into record heights
Wall Street capped a week of milestones Friday with a rally that pushed the major stock indexes to alltime highs for the second day in a row.
Small-company stocks did better than larger ones, nudging the Russell 2000 index to a record high for the first time since December.
Miners and other raw materials companies led the gainers. Rising crude oil prices also gave energy companies a big boost. Consumer goods stocks were essentially flat.
Strong company earnings and investor optimism over the Trump administration’s promises of tax cuts, less government regulation and other policies helped fuel the market’s gains much of the week.
News that OPEC is largely adhering to a recent pact to cut crude oil production has also helped lift markets. The daily market moves have been mostly small, but big enough to push indexes to new heights.
The Russell 2000 picked up 10.32 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,388.84.
Some 70 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported quarterly results as of Friday. About 40 percent of those turned in earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street’s forecasts, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Earnings are on track to mark the second consecutive quarter of growth after a five-quarter losing streak.
Beyond earnings, investors are also eyeing Washington for signs the Trump administration will deliver on the promised businessfriendly policy proposals.
“The market has been pretty generous ever since the election in moving in anticipation of what might come,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading & derivatives at Charles Schwab. “The question is at what point does the market expect to see things actually happen versus just promises of action. That’s the tricky part.”