Stocks end higher, giving S&P 500 its best week since July
Wall Street added to its recent gains Friday as stocks closed higher, driving the S&P 500 to its best week since July.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7% for its third straight gain and ended the week 1.8% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.5%.
The latest rally came as investors welcomed encouraging quarterly report cards from several companies. Leading the way for the S&P 500 was freight deliverer J.B. Hunt Transport Services, which jumped 8.7% after reporting stronger profits for the summer than Wall Street expected. Goldman Sachs rose 3.8% and Alcoa surged 15.2% after it beat earnings expectations and announced a dividend payment and buyback of its stock.
The positive company earnings dovetailed with a report showing people
spent much more at U.S. retailers last month than Wall Street expected. Sales at stores, restaurants and other retail establishments rose 0.7% from August instead of falling, as economists forecast.
“We saw retail sales this morning come in pretty strong,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “(Stocks) are still at pretty reasonable valuations with another earnings
season having just ticked on, and thus far at least, some pretty good results.”
The S&P 500 rose 33.11 points to 4,471.37. The Dow gained 382.20 points to 35,294.76, and the Nasdaq rose 73.91 points to 14,897.34.
Friday’s gain follows up on a 1.7% jump for the S&P 500 Thursday, its best day since March, which was driven by stronger-thanexpected earnings reports and encouraging data on the job market.
It’s a turnaround from a shaky few weeks, when the benchmark index fell as much as 5.2% from its record set on Sept. 2. Worries about stubbornly high inflation, reduced support for markets from the Federal Reserve and a slowing economy helped to knock stock prices around. The S&P 500 is back within 1.5% of its all-time high.
Earnings reporting season has just begun, but early indicators are encouraging. All but one of the 19 companies in the S&P 500 that reported quarterly results this week topped analysts’ profit forecasts. Such strength is crucial after climbing interest rates heightened worries that stock prices had grown too expensive relative to profits.
The stronger-than-expected reports on the economy also help calm chatter about “stagflation,” which is the feared marriage of a stagnating economy and high inflation.