D. Marie U.S. stocks end higher Friday, but notch second straight week of declines
U.S. stocks on Friday finished barely higher as an early rise, buoyed by gains in bank shares, faded into the close. The three main equity benchmarks finished the week with a second-straight weekly loss. On the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.22% ended up 0.2% at 18,138, closing well of its highs of the session, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.02% wrapped up little-changed at 2,132 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.02% was flat at 5,214. Better-than-expected quarterly results from the likes of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM, -0.32% delivered an initial jolt to the banking sector and the broader market, with strength in J.P. Morgan’s trading unit hinting at a possibly solid quarter for trading powerhouse Goldman Sachs Group GS, +1.85% Goldman’s rise led gains for the Dow industrials. Goldman is set to report its results Oct. 18. Although financial institutions set an upbeat tone, Wells Fargo & Co.’s WFC, -0.09% fake-account scandal overshadowed its solid results. Comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen midday Friday, where she suggested the fed could overshoot its 2% inflation target, and a strengthening dollar DXY, +0.56% up 0.6%, helped to limit gains for U.S. equities. For the week, the Dow closed off 0.6%, the S&P 500 ended with a weekly decline of 1% and the Nasdaq Composite closed off 1.5%. Meanwhile, the buck ended up 3% on the week. A rising dollar can be viewed as a headwind for multinational companies, which rely on selling goods abroad.
Published at Fri, 14 Oct 2016 20:02:04 +0000
