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U.S. stocks end at record highs ahead of Presidents Day

Xinhua, February 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks rallied Friday, with all three major indices refreshing closing records, as investor sentiment remained bullish ahead of the Presidents Day holiday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.28 points, or 0.02 percent, to 20,624.05. The S&P 500 added 3.94 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,351.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 23.68 points, or 0.41 percent, to 5,838.58.

U.S. stocks initially fell in the early morning trading as investors became cautious after recent sharp gains, but then ticked up as many investors continued to make bullish bets on the so-called Trump rally.

U.S. stocks have posted solid gains since U.S. President Donald Trump won the presidential election, as investors believed that he would pursue massive corporate tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure spending.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks finished narrowly mixed, with the Dow extending its record run to a sixth straight day, amid a batch of generally upbeat economic reports. Till Thursday, the Dow had risen 12.5 percent since the Election Day.

In corporate news, shares of Deere & Company rose 1.01 percent to 110.27 U.S. dollars apiece Friday after the construction equipment maker delivered better-than-expected quarterly results.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 7.3 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.3 percent.

The U.S. stock markets will be closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.

For the week, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq jumping 1.7 percent, 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. Endit