Apple juices Wall Street as indexes climb for another week
A surge in shares of heavyweight Apple helped push up major Wall Street indexes on Friday, as investors also assessed a mixed US labor market report.
The S&P 500 and Dow industrials recorded their eighth consecutive weeks of gains, while the Nasdaq posted its sixth straight up week, as equities have climbed to record highs.
Shares of Apple, the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, rose 2.6% as shoppers streamed into the company’s stores to buy its latest iPhone. Apple also gave a better-than-expected sales forecast for the holiday shopping season.
US job growth accelerated in October after hurricane-related disruptions in the prior month, the Labor Department said. But wages grew at their slowest annual pace in more than 18 months in a sign that inflation probably will continue to undershoot the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
“It kind of confirms this Goldilocks-type scenario where it’s steady growth with really not a lot of inflationary pressure,” said Michael Dowdall, investment strategist at BMO Global Asset Management in Chicago.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22.93 points, or 0.1%, to 23,539.19, the S&P 500 gained 7.99 points, or 0.31%, to 2,587.84 and the Nasdaq Composite added 49.49 points, or 0.74%, to 6,764.44.
Apple was easily the biggest individual boost to the three indexes. The stock also helped boost the tech sector, which climbed 0.9% and led all major S&P 500 groups.
“This is obviously the carry-over effect from Apple having a good quarter and a tremendous outlook,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.
All three indexes rose in a week that saw a series of significant events, including the nomination of a new Fed chairman and the long-awaited unveiling of a tax-cut bill from US President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans.
In other corporate news, Qualcomm shares surged 12.7% after reports that Broadcom is exploring a deal to buy the smartphone chip maker. Broadcom shares rose 5.4%.
Aetna shares rose 2.7% after Reuters reported US pharmacy operator CVS Health and the health insurer are working toward finalizing merger terms and announcing a deal as early as December. CVS shares fell 0.2%.
Third-quarter corporate reports also have continued at a heavy pace. With more than 400 of S&P 500 companies having reported, earnings for the quarter are expected to have climbed 8%, compared to an expectation of a 5.9% rise at the start of October, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
American International Group shares sank 4.6% as investors reacted to a surprise $836 million boost to the insurance giant’s reserves.
Starbucks shares rose 2.1% following results.
The Bank of Israel on Friday set its representative rate for the US dollar at NIS 3.5130, for the Australian dollar at NIS 2.6957, and for the South African rand at NIS 0.2491.
The central bank set the representative rate for the euro at NIS 4.0908, and for 100 yen at NIS 3.0789.
(Reuters)