On Wall Street, trading was cautious on Friday, and after spending almost the entire day in the red, the stock indices managed to break into positive territory towards the end of trading.
The Dow Jones gained 3 points, or 0.02 percent, to 15,558 points, while the S&P 500 rose 0.08 percent to 1,691 points, and the Nasdaq index increased by 0.22 percent to 3,613 points. Five of the 10 sectors of the S&P 500 index ended in positive territory yesterday, with one of the defensive sectors – healthcare – seeing the largest increase.
This indicates investor caution, as well as a thin trading volume. On Wall Street, NYSE MKT, and Nasdaq, only 5.4 billion shares changed hands yesterday, while the average daily volume this year is 6.4 billion. Most companies are reporting better-than-expected quarterly results, but expectations are very low, so this fails to stimulate significant stock price growth.
“I am surprised that we ended trading in the positive. Company earnings are not as bad as investors feared, and political issues are not currently in the foreground. This could, however, change quickly, but one should enjoy the summer price rise while it lasts,” says Matt McCormick, portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor.
So far, around 260 companies from the S&P 500 index have reported their earnings, with 67.6 percent exceeding analysts’ expectations regarding earnings, and 56 percent regarding revenues.
Throughout this week, the Dow Jones has gained 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq index has increased by 0.7 percent. The S&P 500, on the other hand, has weakened by 0.03 percent after four weeks of continuous growth.
European markets also traded cautiously yesterday. The London FTSE index fell by 0.50 percent to 6,554 points, while the Frankfurt DAX decreased by 0.65 percent to 8,244 points. The Paris CAC, on the other hand, rose by 0.32 percent to 3,968 points.
