S&P Enjoys 5th Record Close of Week

The S&P 500 rose on Friday as it closed out a winning week following solid earnings results and the latest trade developments.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ballooned 208.01 points to 44,901.92.

The much broader index triumphed 25.3 points to 6,388.64.

The NASDAQ gained 50.36 points to 21,108.32.

All three major averages finished the week with gains. The 30-stock Dow was tracking for nearly a 1% advance on the week, as is the tech-heavy NASDAQ, while the S&P 500 rose about 1.2% week to date.

The journey to all-time highs over this past week has been supported by a strong earnings season so far, including Alphabet’s better-than-expected earnings report. Verizon shares also jumped after the telecommunications company’s results surpassed expectations. Week to date, Alphabet is up 4% and Verizon is up 5%.

More than 82% of the 169 S&P 500 companies that have reported to date have beaten Wall Street’s expectations, per FactSet data.

Recent deals between the U.S. and its trading partners have also helped push the market to new heights. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump announced a “massive” trade agreement with Japan, which includes 15% “reciprocal” tariffs. The president also said this week that the U.S. and Indonesia have settled on the framework of a trade agreement.

Trump said Friday that he expects more deals to be done before next week’s Aug. 1 tariff deadline.

Next week is also when the Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet once again. Policymakers are widely expected to keep interest rates at their current target range of 4.25% to 4.5%.

Prices for the 10-year treasury gained strength, lowering yields to 4.38% Thursday’s 4.40%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices weakened 93 cents to $65.10 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices stumbled $34.70 to $3,338.7.30 U.S. an ounce.