Retail sales increased 0.7% in September despite market shortages.
Indexes: Dow up 1.1%, S&P 500 up 0.8%, Nasdaq down 0.5% New throughout, adds details and official closing prices and volume data NEW YORK, Oct 15 Reuters - U.S. stocks rose on Friday and the Dow scored its biggest weekly percentage gain since June as Goldman Sachs rounded out a week of strong quarterly earnings for the big banks.
Goldman Sachs Group shares went up to 3.8% and gave the Dow an enormous boost, as a record wave of transaction activity drove a surge in the bank's quarterly profits.
Goldman's report followed strong results from Bank of America and others this week. On the same day, the S&P 500 was among the biggest positives for the RBI, and the index's bank index climbed 2.1%.
Results from big financial institutions provided a strong start to third quarter U.S. earnings, though investors will still watch in coming weeks for signs of impacts from supply chain disruptions and higher costs, particularly for energy.
Forecasts now call for third-quarter S&P 500 earnings to show a 32% rise from the same period a year ago. The latest forecast based on results from 41 stocks and estimates for the rest is up from 29.4% at the beginning of October, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
We are starting to get into an earnings-driven rally that I hope lasts. We'll see the results in the next couple of weeks as a great bulk of corporate report in all sectors, said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Alcoa Corp shares surged 15.2% after the aluminum producer reported stronger than expected results, introduced a $500 million buyback program and reported a quarterly cash dividend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to 35,294 points, or 1.09%, to 382.2 points in the chart. 76, the S&P 500 gained 33.11 points, or 0.75%, to 4,471. 37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 73,91 points, or 0.5%, to 14,897. The Dow was up 1.6% for the week, its biggest weekly percentage gain since June 25. The S&P 500 had the best weekly advance since 23 July, 2007.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported a surprise increase in retail sales in September, although investors still worried that supply constraints could disrupt the holiday shopping season. A preliminary reading for consumer sentiment in October came slightly below expectations.
Shares of Moderna Inc. fell 2.3%. A Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is delaying its decision on authorizing Moderna's COVID - 19 vaccine for teenagers to check if the shot could increase the risk of heart inflammation.
On Thursday, Moderna shares rose when an FDA panel voted to recommend booster shots of its COVID-19 vaccine for Americans over 65 and older and for high-risk people.
Stocks of cryptocurrency and blockchain - related companies gained as bitcoin hit $60,000 for the first time since April. Bitcoin ended up 6.6%.
Ascent issues did declining ones on the Nasdaq by a 1.12 - to - 1 ratio; on the NYSE, a 1.24 -- to - 1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 57 new 52 - week highs and no new lows, and the Nasdaq Composite recorded 124 new highs and 59 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.83 billion shares, compared with the 10.5 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.