Dow climbs more than 100 points Friday, buoyed by strong gains: live updates

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 21, 2022.

Source: NYSE

He Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday as strong earnings results from some of the biggest banks and companies kicked off earnings season.

The Dow rose 150 points, or 0.5%. He S&P 500 gained 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3%.

Wall Street is coming off its fourth straight day of gains, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reaching their highest levels since April 2022.

JPMorgan Chase rose more than 1% after destination better-than-expected earnings. The bank was buoyed by higher interest rates and rising interest income. Wells Fargo was also up more than 3% in premarket on better-than-expected earnings.

UnitedHealth shares rose 3% after the insurance giant reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue. The company also raised the lower end of its full-year earnings guidance.

Expectations for this season are bearish, with analysts forecasting a roughly 7% year-over-year drop in earnings for the S&P 500, according to FactSet. That would mark the worst earnings season since the second quarter of 2020, when earnings on the S&P 500 fell 31.6%.

US import prices fell 0.2% in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. This marked the fifth month in 2023 that import prices have declined, based on cooler-than-expected economic data earlier this week.

The last producer price index report It showed inflation rising less than expected and was based on optimism from traders from June Consumer Price Index data, which was released on Wednesday. Investors are now considering whether a strong economy illustrated by recent data could push stocks higher later in the year.

“Most stock and bond index prices rose (Thursday) as economic data indicates inflation has fallen rapidly and the job market remains strong,” said Bill Merz, senior director of investment at US Bank. Wealth Management. “Optimism that inflation will continue to fall led investors to bet on equities as we await second-quarter earnings results. Investors also pushed up bond prices as investors now anticipate only a rate hike more from the Federal Reserve before they start cutting rates in early 2024. based on the price of the interest rate.”

In fact, the second half of the year could still be strong.

“Regardless of how much volatility we end up seeing, given the strong year to date and macroeconomic challenges, we would expect calls for second half underperformance to be even stronger,” said Baird’s Ross Mayfield. “Amid the noise, just remember that a good start to the year is a bullish sign, not a bearish one, and has preceded strong second-half performance very often.”

On a weekly basis, all three major averages are well on their way to gains. The S&P 500 was up 2.5% for the week, while the Dow was up 1.9% through Thursday’s close. The Nasdaq Composite is the best, up 3.5% and on pace for its best week since March 17.