Wall Street stocks close on a positive note, hit weekly high
- 3 years ago
The S&P 500 drifted higher on Friday, recovering from early weakness as major stock indexes closed at an all-time high.
Value stocks outperformed large-cap growth stocks as investors favoured names likely to benefit from a reopened economy.
The main stock indexes had opened lower, weighed down by heavyweights Apple Inc, Tesla Inc and Amazon.com Inc. By the time markets closed; the major averages had hit their second consecutive weekly gains.
Late on Thursday, the Lipper data showed US-based stock funds attracted $22.9 billion in the week to Wednesday, the largest weekly inflow since March 2008.
US stock markets will be closed on Monday on account of the Presidents' Day holiday.
"Most of these selloffs have proven just to be some profit-taking only to see the market come back from any near-term selloff," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.
"Low-interest rate, stimulus and improvement on the virus front providing greater confidence for investors to stay in the market and buy more."
A sharp drop in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations has also driven markets to historic highs in recent weeks. However, many analysts have cautioned of a near-term pullback amid risks from new coronavirus variants and potential bumps in vaccine distribution.
Latest data showed US consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell in early February as households remained worried about the economy despite expectations for additional fiscal stimulus.
A Reuters poll showed the US economy is expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels within a year as the proposed $1.9 trillion fiscal package helps boost economic activity. Still, it's likely to take over a year for unemployment to fall to early 2020 levels.
US President Joe Biden will meet with a bipartisan group of mayors and governors on Friday as he continues to push for approval of the hefty relief plan.
This week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent, as per data from WSJ. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.7 percent.
In the trading on Friday, the S&P 500 gained 18.45 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3934.83, its 10th record close of 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 27.70 points, or 0.1 percent, to 31458.40, its 7th record close of the year. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 69.70 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14095.47, its 12th record close this year.
The S&P 500 posted 47 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 307 new highs and 22 new lows.
Bumble, the trading app surged 7.3 percent Friday after surging over 64 percent in its debut on Wall Street Thursday. PayPal added 4.7 percent to its rally, while HubSpot, a software company soared nearly 16 percent after it reported a revenue jump in the fourth quarter.
Source: CNBCTV 18
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