Better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and a set of strong economic data have pushed the S&P 500 to a series of record intraday highs since July. The benchmark S&P 500 index rose 10.30 points, or 0.5%, to 2,185.79 beating its previous record high from last Friday, with energy and consumer discretionary stocks leading the gains, while only utilities sector lagged behind.
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The S&P 500 was up 9.41 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 2,184.9.
The Nasdaq added 24 points, or 0.46 percent, to 5,228, also a new all-time high. China’s industrial production grew 6.0 percent in July from a year earlier, a tad below expectations for 6.1 percent growth.
On Tuesday this week S&P Dow Jones Indices showed that the consensus 1 year target for the Dow Jones Industrial Average reportedly climbed above 20000, the target was previously 18860 in February in the weeks preceding the slump of USA stocks to its 2016 low.
The Dow is up 1,151.44 points, or 6.6 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 80 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,574.
They rose more than 4 percent Thursday after Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said members and nonmembers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would discuss the market situation during an informal meeting next month.
At the same time, oil prices were steady.
The Kiwi was up 1.1 percent to 72.87 USA cents, after reaching as high as 73.41 US cents, its strongest level since May 2015. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 8 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,184. The stock added $4.19 to $36.83.
Crude oil prices surged after the International Energy Agency said it expects supply and demand to be more in balance the rest of the year. On the Nasdaq, 1,624 issues rose and 972 fell. COMEX gold futures were down 0.65 percent to $1,343.10.
Global stocks mostly fell Wednesday, amid quiet summer trading and questions about the sustainability of some indexes’ rise to record highs. The kiwi dollar, meanwhile, jumped more than 1 percent after the country’s central bank cut rates to a fresh record low but signaled a more gradual easing path than some investors had anticipated. India’s Sensex gained 1 percent.
OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude was up 14 cents, or 0.3%, at $42.92 a barrel in NY.
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Shares of Walt Disney rose 1.23 per cent after the company late on Tuesday reported results that beat estimates and said it was buying a 33 per cent stake in video-streaming firm BAMTech. Silver added 32 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $20.17 an ounce. The euro strengthened to $1.1164 from $1.1141. While markets in Japan are closed for a holiday, futures on equity gauges in Sydney and Hong Kong foreshadowed declines as shares in New Zealand opened lower.
