FYI: U.S. stocks rose toward fresh closing highs after reassuring economic data and a set of strong earnings reports.
Stocks and U.S. government bond prices notched gains after data released early Friday showed that the gross domestic product grew at a 2.1% annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said, narrowly above the 2% expected by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The figure was boosted by U.S. shoppers. Consumer spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of the economy, recorded the strongest pace of growth since late 2017.
U.S. stocks advanced their records this week as the latest batch of second-quarter earnings trickled in. Analysts said the strength of the U.S. consumer, evident in some of the latest financial results, helped nudge stocks higher. More than two-thirds of S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beat earnings per share estimates, according to FactSet.
The S&P 500 rose 0.74%, lifted by its communication services sector, and close at a record. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.1%, also closed a records high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up .19%.
Alphabet’s shares jumped 10.5% in trading Friday after it reported strong profit, making it one of the biggest gainers in the S&P 500, along with Twitter. The tech behemoth was on track for its biggest percentage jump since July 2015, a jump adding at least $82 billion to its market value. Twitter gained 9.7% after it reported strong user and revenue growth in its second quarter.
Amazon.com fell about 1.8% in recent trading after its earnings report brought an end to its record quarterly profit streak.
Some investors warned that several factors could still derail the recent stock rally, even as the S&P 500 was on track to hit its 13th consecutive record of the year on Friday. U.S. trade talks with China are continuing and failure to reach an agreement on tariffs could put halt the stock market’s recent climb.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks wavered, with stocks in Shanghai up 0.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.7% and Japan’s Nikkei down 0.5%.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-25/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-index-futures-edge-higher-ahead-of-gdp-report-as-busy-earnings-week-comes-to-end-2019-07-26/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-wobble-on-mixed-earnings-11564128007Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-25/asian-stocks-set-to-fall-draghi-whipsaws-euro-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-closes-week-bullishly-growth-stocks-still-lead-market/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/26/stock-market-traders-look-ahead-to-us-gdp-data.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/sp-500-nasdaq-hit-record-high-on-upbeat-alphabet-earnings-gdp-data-idUKKCN1UL1EAU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/vodafone-helps-ftse-100-gain-sports-direct-slips-as-results-go-awol-idUKKCN1UL0SLEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-markets-lifted-by-telecoms-and-media-big-guns-idUSKCN1UL0SRAsia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/26/asia-stocks-central-banks-the-fed-oil-currencies-in-focus.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/26/bonds-treasury-yields-rise-ahead-of-gdp-data.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/26/forex-markets-dollar-us-economic-data-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/26/oil-markets-global-economy-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/26/gold-markets-us-gdp-data-in-focus.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
