On Wall Street, stock indices remained almost unchanged on Friday, with thin trading volume, as investors are not willing to significantly change positions, given that corporate earnings and macroeconomic data are not inspiring.
The Dow Jones gained 3 points, or 0.03 percent, to 13,107 points, while the Nasdaq index rose 0.06 percent to 2,987 points. The S&P 500, on the other hand, fell 0.07 percent to 1,411 points. The U.S. gross domestic product grew by 2 percent in the third quarter, slightly above the expected 1.9 percent. Although this marks an acceleration in economic growth from 1.3 percent in the previous quarter, it is still not enough to significantly improve the labor market situation, so this data did not provoke a noticeable reaction from investors.
Corporate earnings for the third quarter are also not inspiring. Indeed, most companies that have reported so far are recording slightly higher profits than expected, but most have also underperformed in terms of revenue due to weakening global demand.
However, the market is supported by investors’ hope that the situation in the U.S. and other major world economies will improve, after the Fed and other central banks around the world recently eased monetary policy further.
