Trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: NYSE
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average hit fresh all-time highs on Friday as both indexes looked to cap off a positive week on a high note.
The Dow added 70 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 gained about 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite fluctuated around the flatline.
Shares of Disney jumped 3.75% in morning trading after it reported blowout fiscal third-quarter earnings, helping pushing the Dow to a new record. The media giant crushed Wall Street expectations on Disney+ subscriber growth and overall revenue and earnings.
Among the S&P sectors, health care and communication services stocks outperformed as Moderna added 2% and ViacomCBS tacked on 1.1%. Energy and industrials again underperformed with Hess down 1.5% and United Rentals retreating 1%.
The blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 are on track to close out a winning week after gaining 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively, through Thursday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite underperformed this week, down 0.1%.
“As we look to close the week, the SPX continues to grind higher amid mixed economic data and a lack of consensus among Fed speakers as to when to begin tapering,” wrote JPMorgan’s Andrew Tyler. “The bull case remains intact despite factor/sector leadership remaining inconsistent.”
Investors digested mixed economic data on Thursday. Weekly jobless claims came in at 375,000 last week, matching estimates and declining for a third straight week. Meanwhile, the producer price index, excluding volatile food, trade services and energy components, rose 0.9% last month versus a forecast for a 0.5% gain.
“The hot PPI/home price figures took some of the sheen off the Wed CPI-induced ‘inflation has peaked party’ and this spurred very modest profit taking in cyclical groups following two days of outperformance,” Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note.
Stocks are rising to records on the back of a stellar earnings season.
Year-over-year earnings growth is expected to be 92.9%, according to Refinitiv. So far about 90% of the S&P 500 companies have handed in their quarterly report, and about 88% of them beat earnings estimates from Wall Street analysts, according to Refinitiv.
Airbnb shares fell 1.1% after the travel company issued a warning about volatility due to the Covid delta variant.
