The S&P 500 climbed to record highsl Friday, as investors digested quarterly earnings and assessed the outlook for more trade deals, News.az reports citing Investing.
At 1:11 p.m. ET (17:11 GMT), the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen by 145 points, or 0.3%, the benchmark S&P 500 increased 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4%.
The main Wall Street indices are all on course to finish the week with gains, with the Dow set for an almost 1% advance on the week, as is the Nasdaq, while the S&P 500 has risen about 1.1% week to date.
Almost 83% of the 155 S&P 500 companies that have reported to date beat Wall Street’s expectations, helping both the latter two indices to fresh all-time intraday and closing highs on Thursday.
Optimism over more trade deals
Aside from the generally positive quarterly earnings, sentiment has also been boosted this week by the announcement of a trade deal with Japan, prompting optimism that more important agreements will follow ahead of the August 1 deadline for the imposition of these heavy tariffs.
The European Commission said earlier this week that a negotiated solution was in reach ahead of August 1, while officials of both the U.S. and China will meet in Stockholm next week to discuss an extension of the deal negotiation deadline.
The U.S. and China agreed in May and June to substantially lower their respective trade tariffs on each other, and signed a framework trade agreement.
Intel disappoints with guidance
There are more earnings to digest Friday, including from the likes of HCA Holdings (NYSE:HCA) and Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR), while investors are also digesting a number of results that emerged after the closing bell on Thursday.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) expects steeper losses than Wall Street forecasts in the third quarter and announced plans to slash jobs, with the chipmaker planning to reduce headcount to 75,000 by the end of year, down 22% from the end of 2024, which will be through attrition and "other means."
On the flip side, Deckers (NYSE:DECK) soared after the shoe retailer produced strong first-quarter numbers, seeing better-than-expected sales from its Hoka and Ugg brands.
Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARAA) also inched higher after the Federal Communications Commission approved the studio’s $8 billion merger with Skydance Media.
Crude rises amid trade deal hopes
Oil prices were subdued following gains in the previous session. At 09:38 ET, Brent futures was mostly unchanged at $69.17 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dipped 0.1% to $65.97 per barrel.
Both contracts jumped more than 1% on Thursday after data showed a sharp decline in U.S. crude inventories. The crude markets have been partly supported by the prospect of more trade deals between the United States and its global trading partners.
