U.S. markets and stock exchange traded funds climbed Friday as strong earnings and optimism over trade developments helped push the S&P 500 toward record highs.
On Friday, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) was up 0.7%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) gained 0.7%, and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) rose 0.5%.
Top negotiators from the the U.S. and China “made headway on specific issues” related to trade, Reuters reports. The discussions would include China’s plans to buy U.S. farm products in exchange that the U.S. remove some tariffs on Chinese imports.
The comments helped top off a strong week for equity markets, which were already pushing to record highs after a batch of better-than-expected third-quarter earnings reports.
“We’ve had some misses … mostly due to trade war concerns, but overall, it looks like we’re headed for a fairly good earnings season,” Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, told Reuters.
On Friday, the University of Michigan also revealed its final results of an October consumer sentiment survey, publishing results that showed Americans’ sentiments about the economy slipped slightly. Earlier in the month retail sales numbers reflected consumers pulling back on spending over September.
Looking ahead, investors anticipate the Federal Reserve to further cut borrowing costs for the third time this year at its upcoming policy meeting next week after a number of poor economic data updates earlier in the month.
Meanwhile, in Europe, economic data and corporate earnings reflected a mixed environment of how the biggest businesses are performing. Forecasters surveyed by the European Central Bank anticipate lowered growth and inflation in the Eurozone over the coming years. Additionally, we see continued uncertainty over the United Kingdom divorce with the European Union after Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for a snap general election on December 12 to pressure his political opponents to back a Brexit deal.
For more information on the markets, visit our current affairs category.
