US stocks post solid gains amid data, earnings

U.S. stocks posted solid gains for the past week amid a batch of economic data as well as corporate earnings reports.

For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.3 percent, 1.0 percent and 1.9 percent respectively.

On Monday, the Dow fell 27.40 points, or 0.14 percent, to 19,799.85. The S&P 500 lost 6.11 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,265.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 2.39 points, or 0.04 percent, to 5,552.94.

Traders on Monday continued to ponder over U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" pledge and were disappointed as Trump had not touched on specific economic or trade policies.

The stocks rallied Tuesday, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index setting new closing records, as investors digested a batch of corporate earning reports.

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 6.7 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.1 percent.

On the economic front, U.S. existing-home sales closed out 2016 as the best year in a decade, even as sales declined in December as the result of ongoing affordability tensions and historically low supply levels, according to the National Association of Realtors Tuesday.

Total existing-home sales decreased 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million in December from an upwardly revised 5.65 million in November.

Meanwhile, adjusted for seasonal influences, the markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI for January increased to 55.1 from 54.3 in December.

On Tuesday, the Dow rose 112.86 points, or 0.57 percent, to 19,912.71. The S&P 500 added 14.87 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,280.07. The Nasdaq gained 48.01 points, or 0.86 percent, to 5,600.96.

U.S. stocks extended gains Wednesday, with the Dow closing above the 20,000-point milestone for the first time ever.

The Dow rose 155.80 points, or 0.78 percent, to 20,068.51. The S&P 500 added 18.30 points, or 0.80 percent, to 2,298.37. The Nasdaq climbed 55.38 points, or 0.99 percent, to 5,656.34.

Before Wednesday's opening bell, the Boeing Company announced fourth-quarter revenue of 23.3 billion U.S. dollars, with GAAP earnings per share of 2.59 dollars and core earnings per share (non-GAAP) of 2.47 dollars, reflecting overall solid execution on production programs and services.

Shares of the aircraft maker surged 4.24 percent to 167.36 dollars apiece Wednesday following the release of the company's strong quarterly results.

United Technologies, another Dow component, also posted quarterly profit and revenue Wednesday that roughly in line with Wall Street expectations. Its shares fell 0.58 percent to 110.96 dollars apiece.

Some analysts believed that Trump's new executive orders also boosted bullish sentiment on the Wall Street.

U.S. stocks posted solid gains after Trump won the presidency election as investors bet that he would pursue massive corporate tax cuts, deregulation, and infrastructure spending.

Dow closed above 19,000 for the first time ever on Nov. 22 and has increased about 9 percent since the Nov. 8 Election Day.

On Thursday, the Dow rose 32.40 points, or 0.16 percent, to 20,100.91. The S&P 500 fell 1.69 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,298.68. The Nasdaq edged down 1.16 points, or 0.02 percent, to 5,655.18.

U.S. sales of new single-family houses in December 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 536,000, missing market consensus, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

This was 10.4 percent below the revised November rate of 598,000 and was 0.4 percent below the December 2015 estimate of 538,000.

In a separate report, the department announced that the international trade deficit was 65.0 billion U.S. dollars in December, down 0.3 billion dollars from 65.3 billion dollars in November.

Meanwhile, in the week ending Jan. 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 259,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

In corporate news, shares of Caterpillar fell 0.95 percent to 97.22 dollars apiece Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings but revenues shy of forecasts.

On Friday, the Dow fell 7.13 points, or 0.04 percent, to 20,093.78. the S&P 500 lost 1.99 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,294.69. The Nasdaq rose 5.61 points, or 0.10 percent, to 5660.78.

On the economic front, U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, missing market consensus and slower than the 3.5 percent increase from the previous three months, according to an advance estimate released by the country's commerce department.

The department attributed the slower growth to the fall in exports, an acceleration in imports and a slowdown in consumer spending.

"GDP rose just 1.6 percent in 2016 as a whole, the weakest since 2011. With oil prices stable now and oil output rising again, 2017 GDP growth is likely to be 2.5 percent even before any policy changes go into effect," said Jay Morelock and Chris Low, economists at FTN Financial, in a joint note.

source: Xinhua