NEW YORK – The S&P 500 and the Dow scored record closing highs on Oct 11, with the big boosts from financial stocks after banks reported strong quarterly results while the latest inflation data fueled expectations for a US Federal Reserve rate cut in November.
Major financial companies kicked off earnings season with JPMorgan Chase finishing the session up 4.4 per cent after the lender reported higher-than-expected third-quarter profit and raised its annual interest income forecast.
Shares in Wells Fargo rallied 5.6 per cent after its profit also beat analysts’ expectations. BlackRock stock gained 3.6 per cent after the asset manager reported that its assets under management had hit a record high for the third straight quarter.
Other stocks in the industry rose broadly, making the S&P 500 Financials index the biggest index points boost for the benchmark.
“We’d some good earnings reports from some leading financial companies. That’s a good start to earnings season,” said Evan Brown, Portfolio Manager and Head of Multi-Asset Strategy, UBS Asset Management, adding that it bodes well for the economy.
“When financials do well, this is what a soft landing looks like. It’s a positive overall sign for the economy and sets a positive tone for earnings releases in other industries in the next few weeks.”
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 409.74 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 42,863.86, the S&P 500 gained 34.98 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 5,815.03 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 60.89 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 18,342.94.
For the week, the S&P 500 added 1.1 per cent while the Dow climbed 1.2 per cent and the Nasdaq added 1.1 per cent with all three notching their fifth weekly gain in a row.
Earlier in the day, data from the US Department of Labor
