Wall St. rises, racks up 4th straight week of gains
US shares rose on Friday, clinching the fourth straight positive week for the stock market, boosted by strength in telecom stalwarts AT&T and Verizon.
A US manufacturing report also came in above expectations, building on upbeat data from earlier in the month.
Gains were limited by weakness in reports from industrial companies including General Electric.
The Bank of Israel on Friday set its representative rate for the US dollar at NIS 3.8390, for the Canadian dollar at NIS 2.9238, for the Australian dollar at 2.8682, and for the South African rand at NIS 0.2701. The representative rate for the euro was NIS 4.2353, and for 100 yen it was NIS 3.6210.
The S&P and Dow have broken to all-time records in the past two weeks for the first time in more than a year amid a better-thanfeared corporate earnings season. The S&P closed at another record high on Friday.
“Below it all is just an ongoing trend of better economic reports,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. “Some of those are earnings reports, but they all line up to the same thing: It looks like growth is quickening.”
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 53.62 points, or 0.29 percent, to 18,570.85, the S&P 500 gained 9.86 points, or 0.46%, to 2,175.03 and the Nasdaq Composite added 26.26 points, or 0.52%, to 5,100.16.
The S&P 500 is up more than 6% in 2016, shaking off a rough start to the year and global instability, including Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union.
“We’re well past the Brexit fallout and the subsequent rebound,” said Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. “We’re seeing oil is fairly well-contained and range-bound. So those two variables are off the table, and they have played a big part in triggering volatility.”
All 10 sectors ended higher on Friday, led by utilities and telecoms – defensive, high-dividend-paying groups that have lifted the market this year.
AT&T climbed 1.4% after its results. Verizon rose 1.3%. The company is the front-runner for Yahoo’s core business, Reuters reported. Yahoo closed up 1.4 %.
GE shares slid 1.6%. The US industrial conglomerate reported weak demand for new oil, gas and transportation equipment.
Rival Honeywell fell 2.6% after the diversified manufacturer lowered its full-year sales forecast.
Still, second-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies, which started reporting in earnest last week, are now expected to decline by only 3%, less severe than the 4.5% drop estimated at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Results from about 40% of the S&P 500 are due this week, including reports from tech heavyweights.
Investors will also be watching the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week for clues about when the US central bank might next seek to raise interest rates.