Dow jumps 141 points, but stocks still post a down week
Industrial companies led U.S. stocks higher Friday, giving the stock market its second gain in two days. Still, indexes ended the week lower.
Friday’s rally was broad, with all 11 industry sectors in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index closing higher. That included energy stocks, which climbed as the price of crude oil rose.
The gains helped trim some of the losses from Wednesday, when the stock market had its worst day in eight months amid deepening political turmoil in Washington.
Investors appeared to shrug off those concerns Friday, preferring instead to focus on the latest batch of corporate earnings, which included solid results from Deere & Co.
“If you took a week off, you probably thought you didn’t miss much because we’re at about the same levels today as we were last Friday,” said Sean Lynch, co-head of global equity strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “And yet, we spiked to a new all-time high on the S&P on Monday, we suffered the worst decline of the year on Wednesday and again we’re back within 1% of that all-time high today.”
The S&P 500 index rose 16.01 points, or 0.7%, to 2,381.73. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 141.82 points, or 0.7%, to 20,804.84. The Nasdaq composite index advanced 28.57 points, or 0.5%, to 6,083.70. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks ticked up 6.25 points, or 0.5%, to 1,367.33.
Four stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.
Bond prices edged lower. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.24% from 2.23%.
Investors grew worried Wednesday that President Trump’s pro-business agenda could be hindered by fallout from allegations that he asked the FBI to end an investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn, sparking the steep sell-off.
But they were in a buying mood Friday, nudging U.S. stock indexes higher early on, extending modest gains from the day before.
“It’s clearly been a roller coaster week, with equities being swayed between political uncertainty and improving fundamentals,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. Despite the tumult in Washington, “President Trump’s pro-growth agenda of tax reform, less regulation, infrastructure spend and the like, in our view, still remain drivers of higher stock prices.”
Traders bid up shares in several companies that reported solid quarterly results Friday.
Deere, the maker of heavy equipment, jumped 7.3% to $120.90.
Autodesk vaulted 14.7% to $109.91 after the design software company raised its earnings forecast for the year and reported a loss in its latest quarter that was narrower than analysts expected. The stock was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500.
McKesson jumped 8.2% to $153.01 after the prescription drug distributor reported earnings for its latest quarter that easily beat Wall Street’s forecasts.
Ross Stores rose 1.9% to $62.20 after the discount retailer also reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street’s estimates.
Some companies turned in disappointing results.
Foot Locker plunged 16.7% to $58.72 after the athletic footwear and apparel retailer’s latest quarterly profits fell short of analysts’ forecasts. The stock was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500.
Campbell Soup slid 2% to $55.78 after the company turned in disappointing quarterly results.
Energy futures climbed. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 98 cents, or 2%, to $50.33 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose $1.10, or 2.1%, to $53.61 a barrel. Natural gas rose 7 cents to $3.26 per 1,000 cubic feet. Wholesale gasoline rose 5 cents to $1.65 a gallon. Heating oil rose 4 cents to $1.58 a gallon.
The price of gold inched up 80 cents to settle at $1,253.60 an ounce. Silver rose 13 cents to $16.80 an ounce. Copper rose 5 cents to $2.58 a pound.
In currency trading, the dollar weakened to 111.20 yen from 111.49 yen. The euro jumped to $1.1205 from $1.1101.
Several major indexes overseas also posted gains.
Germany’s DAX rose 0.4%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.7% and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.5%. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.2%. South Korea’s Kospi edged up nearly 0.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%.
UPDATES:
2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices, context and analyst comment.
1:15 p.m.: This article was updated with the close of markets.
7:25 a.m.: This article was updated with market prices and context.
This article was originally published at 6:55 a.m.
