Meanwhile, the overall upbeat second quarter earnings results continue to support U.S. markets, especially with the ongoing rally in technology shares. Analysts expect an 8.6% rise in second-quarter earnings and a 4.6% increase in revenue for the S&P 500 year-over-year, Reuters reports.
“Earnings are going to surprise to the upside and so far it’s been good,” Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company, told Reuters. “I think the one thing that’s changed is now we’re getting revenue growth because in many cases the world is doing better. That’s the big change to the economy over the past year and that’s what will keep the fire burning in the future.”
Related: Strong Corporate Earnings Help Push U.S. Stock ETFs to New Heights
U.S. markets also remained resilient despite a flareup associated with political risk earlier in the morning. Markets briefly dipped in early Thursday on news of an investigation into ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia in last year’s election may have extended into Trump’s businesses, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“At this point, the market is viewed as so frothy, it’s definitely a sell first and sort it out later mentality,” Justin Wiggs, managing director in equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus, told the WSJ.
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