Wall Street ekes out small gain to cap strongest week of year
Reuters
Published Oct 09, 2015 05:09PM ET
Wall Street ekes out small gain to cap strongest week of year
By Sinead Carew
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed slightly higher on Friday, ending the S&P 500's best week for 2015 on a quiet note as investors waited for U.S. companies to report third-quarter earnings.
The S&P 500 had a weekly gain of 3.3 percent, its best week since Dec. 2015, as investors regained some optimism after a period of heavy volatility since late August on concerns about global growth and uncertainty about U.S. interest rates.
"We've had a very good week and a very good start to the fourth quarter," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. "Next week third quarter earnings season begins in earnest. You had disappointing results from Alcoa yesterday and further reason to take money off the table as you go into next week."
Investors are anxious to gauge how companies are faring amid U.S. dollar strength and concerns about growth in China, the world's second biggest economy.
Trading volume was light with 6.77 billion shares changing hands on U.S. exchanges compared the 7.52 billion average for the previous 20 sessions according to Thomson Reuters data.
Financial stocks were among the worst performers Friday as investors read further signs of dovishness in the previous day's release of minutes from the Fed's September meeting. Policymakers held interest rates steady and the minutes showed they sought evidence a global economic slowdown would not knock the U.S. economy off course.
After recent weak performance, financial stocks will be in focus next week as Goldman Sachs Group (N:GS), Bank of American Corp (N:BAC) and other big banks post quarterly results.
The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) rose 33.74 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,084.49, the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 1.46 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,014.89 and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) added 19.68 points, or 0.41 percent, to 4,830.47.
"We've had a super run," said Jon Merriman, chief executive officer at Merriman Holdings Inc in San Francisco. "You had sentiment that was extremely bad eight days ago. Sentiment has become more optimistic. That signals that it's time for the market to roll over."
Information technology <.SPLRCT> was the strongest S&P sector with 0.5 percent gain. Its biggest driver was Apple Inc (O:AAPL) with a 2.4 percent increase, its best day in a month.
Five of the 10 major S&P sectors fell, led by the energy sector <.SPNY>, drop of 0.7 percent as oil prices settled roughly unchanged. Financials (SPSY) dropped 0.6 percent.
Get The News You Want
For the week, the Dow rose 3.7 percent while Nasdaq rose 2.6 percent.
Alcoa (N:AA), one of the first S&P components to report earnings, fell 6.8 percent to $10.26 and was the S&P's biggest percentage decliner after it reported disappointing results.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,726 to 1,318, for a 1.31-to-1 ratio on the upside. On the Nasdaq, 1,516 issues rose and 1,233 fell for a 1.23-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq recorded 71 new highs and 29 new lows.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.