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Stocks Close at Record Highs; Bonds Steady on GDP: Markets Wrap

All you need to know about what’s moving the markets.

Stocks Close at Record Highs; Bonds Steady on GDP: Markets Wrap
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S.(Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Technology shares propelled U.S. stocks to all-time highs after Alphabet posted strong results and a jump in gross domestic product failed to deter expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week. The euro traded at a two-year low.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes hit fresh records as Twitter and Google-parent Alphabet rallied after their sales beat estimates, though Amazon slid on lower-than-forecast earnings. The second-quarter GDP report came in the wake of Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting, where Mario Draghi failed to deliver the dovish signals investors sought.

“Stocks are hitting all-time highs based on the fact that the GDP report was better than expected and earnings continue to come in better than expected,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. “But you also can see that as rates continue to stay low, people are looking to the Fed to cut.”

Stocks Close at Record Highs; Bonds Steady on GDP: Markets Wrap

Corporate results have largely buoyed stocks this earnings season, though investors continued to watch for any hints of a slowdown in companies’ bottom lines. Central banks remain at the top of the agenda, with policy makers expected to boost stimulus at next week’s Fed meeting. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note finished the day little changed after briefly spiking following the GDP report.

“There’s nothing about this that would cause them to either not cut rates next week or to cut rates say by 50 basis points instead of 25,”said David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth Management.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed as much as 0.2% on the day after comments from White House adviser Larry Kudlow on CNBC that the U.S. has ruled out plans to intervene in foreign-exchange markets.

Elsewhere, Turkey’s lira strengthened a day after the central bank cut its key rate by the most on record. Most Asian benchmarks fell, but stocks in Shanghai bucked the trend.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • The S&P 500 Index gained 0.7% to 3,025.84 as of 4:03 p.m. New York time, the highest on record with the largest rise in more than three weeks.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2% to 27,192.45.
  • The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.1% to 8,330.21, the highest on record with the largest climb in more than five weeks.
  • The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.3% to 390.73.

Currencies

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2% to 1,202.61, the highest in more than five weeks.
  • The Japanese yen decreased 0.1% to 108.71 per dollar, the weakest in more than two weeks.
  • The euro declined 0.2% to $1.1124, the weakest in more than two years.
  • The Turkish lira advanced 0.3% to 5.6775 per dollar, the strongest in a week on the biggest gain in more than a week.

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 2.07%.
  • The yield on two-year Treasuries decreased less than one basis point to 1.86%.
  • Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.38%.

Commodities

  • Gold climbed 0.2% to $1,416.88 an ounce.
  • West Texas Intermediate crude increased 0.3% to $56.17 a barrel.

--With assistance from Sarah Ponczek.

To contact the reporters on this story: Vildana Hajric in New York at vhajric1@bloomberg.net;Olivia Rinaldi in New York at orinaldi1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Dave Liedtka

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.