Sun, Feb 16, 2020 page14

• S&P 500, NASDAQ reach all-time highs

  • AP
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  Wall Street on Friday closed out a wobbly day of trading with the major stock indices notching their second straight weekly gain.

  The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite eked out tiny gains, good enough to nudge each to an all-time high for the fourth time this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a slight loss.

  Gains in the technology, real-estate and utilities sectors outweighed losses in energy and industrial stocks, as well as in consumer-centric companies.

  

  Trading was mostly subdued and cautious following China’s report on Thursday of a surge in COVID-19 cases that raised fresh concerns about global economic growth.

  “We were flat for most of the day,” Prudential Financial Inc chief market strategist Quincy Krosby said. “But you’re also seeing that there is concern. Gold is up, money has come into the bond market and the yields have come down.”

  The mixed finish for the indices likely indicates that some traders elected to sell and pocket some profits ahead of the long holiday weekend to get ahead of potential negative headlines about the virus, analysts said.

  US markets are to be closed tomorrow for the President’s Day holiday.

  The S&P 500 on Friday rose 6.22 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,380.16, jumping 1.6 percent from a close of 3,327.71 on Feb. 7.

  The NASDAQ Composite on Friday gained 19.21 points, or 0.2 percent, to 9,731.18, a surge of 2.2 percent from 9,520.51 a week earlier.

  Both indices had been down most of the afternoon.

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday dropped 25.23 points, or 0.1 percent, to 29,398.08, but still gained 1 percent from a close of 29,102.51 a week earlier.

  Smaller company stocks finished lower, with the Russell 2000 on Friday sliding 6.15 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,687.58, but jumping 1.9 percent from 1,656.78 on Feb. 7.

  Investors had over the past two weeks largely set aside uncertainty about the potential economic fallout from the virus outbreak that originated in China. Stocks ended lower on Thursday for only the second time this month.

  Businesses have been hurting due to the outbreak and more of them warned that the effects would linger through this year.

  Still, uncertainty over the economic effects of the outbreak has been tempered by signals out of China’s government, which has taken steps to shore up businesses from the fallout.

  The US Federal Reserve has also helped reassure investors.

  This week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that it was too early to assess the threat the virus poses to the US economy, but added that the economy “is in a very good place” with strong job creation and moderate growth.

  Technology companies led the gainers on Friday. Chipmaker Nvidia Corp was a standout, jumping 7 percent after it handily beat analysts’ profit forecasts for the fourth quarter of last year.

  The real-estate and utilities sectors also held up well as government bond yields fell, making companies that pay higher dividends more attractive. Digital Realty Trust Inc climbed 3.9 percent and American Water Works Co Inc rose 1.7 percent.

  Automakers, retailers and other companies that rely on consumer spending were among the decliners. Ford Motor Co dropped 1.8 percent and General Motors Co fell 1.5 percent, while Target Corp slid 1.4 percent.

  Energy, industrial and financial sector stocks also declined. Marathon Oil Corp slid 4.42 percent, J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc fell 3.6 percent and American International Group Inc dropped 4.8 percent.

  Investors continued to assess corporate earnings reports on Friday. Online travel company Expedia surged 11 percent and Sharpie maker Newell Brands Inc rose 3 percent on solid earnings.

  Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth Corp surged 15.8 percent after its latest quarterly results topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

  More than three-fourths of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings and the results have shown solid growth.

  Companies are expected to report overall profit growth of just less than 1 percent, FactSet Research Systems Inc estimated.

  Additional reporting by staff writer
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