Stocks Close Week with Small Gains but off All
Both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 index failed to end the week on new record highs, but both are still within striking distance at less than 0.1% off of their all-time highs. This places them in position to set new records in the week to come with positive market news.
On Friday, the Dow gained 5.71 points (0.03%) to end the week at 16,851.84. That was down 95.24 (0.06%) points from the record close last Friday at 16,947.08.
The S&P 500 closed the day with a modest gain of 3.74 points (0.19%) to end the week at 1,960.96. That was 1.91 (0.01%) points lower than the record close of 1,962.87 at the end of last week.
The Nasdaq Composite ended the week with a solid 18.88 point gain (0.43%), to reach 4,397.93. While not a new record high for the Nasdaq, it finished the week 37.89 (0.7%) points higher than it had been the previous week, and the highest level it's been at in 14 years. This, however, is still well below it's all-time high of over 5,000 which came about during the dot-com bubble.
Technology shares tried to bring the S&P 500 to a new record with its technology index rising 0.6% for the day, help along by Apple which reached $91.98, an increase of 1.2%. Another bright spot was Nike which ended the day at $77.68, a 1.1% increase bolstered by the announcement that fourth-quarter earnings were better than expectations had been.
These gains were dampened by DuPont which became the latest company to announce a cut to its operating profit forecast for both the second quarter and the full year. That news lead to the stock falling to $65.44, or a 3.3% decrease.
Currently the stock market is in a holding position, reacting to news of individual stocks, but not the market as a whole. This should change in the next couple of weeks when the latest earnings period will begin and companies will announce their standings. This will give a much better indication to investors whether or not the economy picking up, and if company profits are rising.
(Photo courtesy of Peter Kaminski)
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