Dow notches 8th straight week of gains on trade optimism
U.S. stocks rallied Friday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average surging more than 400 points for its eighth straight week of gains, as investors took heart from a report that American and Chinese trade officials are close to signing a memorandum of understanding to settle their trade dispute.
In addition, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed -- finally -- out of the bear market territory it has languished in since late December.
Trade talks will continue next week in Washington. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement the two economic superpowers "will continue working on all outstanding issues in advance of the March 1, 2019, deadline."
Cloud computing company Arista Networks jumped some 5 percent afer its fourth-quarter earnings topped Wall Street estimates.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 44296.51 | +426.16 | +0.97% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5969.34 | +20.63 | +0.35% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 19003.651134 | +31.23 | +0.16% |
Some corporate earnings and guidance weighed on the market. PepsiCo forecast a surprise drop in full-year profit on Friday, as the snack and beverage company spent heavily on marketing and developing new products in a bid to claw back market share from Coca-Cola Co. The company said it expects 2019 adjusted profit per share to drop 3 percent to $5.50, while analysts on average had expected a 3.5 percent rise to $5.86 per share.
Deere & Co's earnings missed Wall Street's estimates, hurt by higher raw materials and logistics costs as well as by slowing trade between the United States and its partners, particularly China. For the quarter ended Jan. 28, the company reported an adjusted profit of $1.54 per share, up 14 percent from a year earlier, but below analyst estimates of $1.76 per share.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANET | ARISTA NETWORKS INC. | 406.48 | +1.51 | +0.37% |
| PEP | PEPSICO INC. | 162.00 | +1.66 | +1.04% |
| KO | THE COCA-COLA CO. | 63.91 | +0.15 | +0.24% |
| DE | DEERE & CO. | 446.73 | +9.31 | +2.13% |
In economic news, U.S. consumer sentiment rebounded in February after the end of the 35-day partial government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. The index revealed that in February, consumer sentiment rose to 95.5, exceeding expectations of 93.7, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Also, the Federal Reserve said on Friday manufacturing production slumped 0.9 percent last month. The expectation was for output to rise 0.1 percent.
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In Asian markets on Friday, China’s Shanghai composite fell 1.9 percent for the day, but rose 2.5 percent for the week. Hong Kong’s hang Seng fell the same 1.9 percent for the session on lackluster Chinese economic data. The Hang Seng lost 0.2 percent for the week. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.1 percent, but added 2.8 percent for the week.
In Europe, the major markets finished the day higher.London’s FTSE rose 0.6 percent, Germany’s DAX gained 1.9 percent and France’s CAC was up 1.8 percent.
FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this report.