NEW YORK: Major Wall Street stock indices ended at records on Friday, concluding a solid week on expectations for more US stimulus and an economic rebound fuelled by coronavirus vaccines.
All three major indices finished at all-time highs, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.5 percent to finish at 3,934.83, up 1.2 percent for the overall week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 percent to 31,458.40, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also won 0.5 percent to 14,095.47.
Markets meandered through much of the week, but generally drifted higher following mostly good corporate earnings. Much of the economic data has been weaker, but investors view that dynamic as lending further momentum to President Joe Biden’s stimulus proposal.
“We can see that Biden wants to move forward with his package quickly,” said Gregori Volokhine, president of Meeschaert Financial Services. “We can also see more progress on coronavirus vaccines.”
Among individual equities, Disney dropped 1.8 percent after reporting strong growth in new subscribers for its streaming service, while its parks and recreation division continued to suffer during Covid-19.
Disney reported quarterly profit of just $17 million compared with $2.1 billion in the same period a year earlier.
But PayPal jumped 4.7 percent as the company released long-term growth targets that project annual revenues reaching $50 billion or more in 2025, compared with $21.5 billion in 2020. – AFP
