ZCZC
BCN-08
US-STOCKS-MARKET
Wall Street closes at fresh records
NEW YORK, July 13, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street’s three main stock indices
cruised to fresh record closes on Friday, ending the week buoyed by investor
confidence the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this month.
The broad-based S&P 500 closed above the 3,000-mark for the first time,
gaining 0.5 percent to settle at 3,013.77.
The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.9 percent to end the
week at 27,332.03 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.6 percent, closing at
8,244.14.
All three also notched modest gains for the week, after Federal Reserve
Chairman Jerome Powell cheered markets comments strongly suggesting the Fed
would cut interest rates at its next policy meeting in less than three weeks.
Jack Ablin of Cresset Wealth Advisors said investors also were encouraged
by outlook for better-than-expected quarterly revenues as corporate earnings
season approaches.
“But the next question we expect is: where do we go from there?” he said.
“The market needs to feed on something. The appetite of the market for low
rates is insatiable. The question now is can they shift their attention to
earnings.”
Among individual companies, Ford Motor jumped 2.9 percent after jointly
announcing a new a multi-billion-dollar new electric vehicle project with
Germany’s Volkswagen.
But Johnson & Johnson sank 4.2 percent after Bloomberg reported the
company was facing a Justice Department probe into whether the company may
have lied to the public about the cancer risks created by its talcum powder.
Shares in gene sequencing company Illumina Inc cratered, falling 16.1
percent, after Bank of America downgraded the stock and the company warned
its revenues may disappoint.
BSS/AFP/HR/0955