- Title: S&P 500 ends higher as traders weigh stimulus and virus worries
- Date: 17th July 2020
- Summary: YARDLEY, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 17, 2020) (REUTERS VIA SKYPE) (SOUNDBITE) (English) KEN KAMEN, PRESIDENT, MERCADIEN ASSET MANAGEMENT, SAYING: "Listen, the market in many ways have looked past the coronavirus, they're saying the next quarter or two won't make a difference because they're just a snapshot in time of some really bad economic activity, and that you better be positioned for the next kind of go around. With all the money that sloshing around that the Federal Reserve, the government and central banks around the globe have been printing, I mean I think equities for the long term make a lot of sense, especially because there's no alternative right now."
- Embargoed: 31st July 2020 21:20
- Keywords: NYSE New York Stock Exchange equities markets stocks
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK + YARDLEY, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK + YARDLEY, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Economic Events,Equities Markets
- Reuters ID: LVA002CN74RPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The S&P 500 ended higher on Friday (July 17) as investors weighed the prospect of more fiscal stimulus against fears of further business disruptions due to a record rise in COVID-19 cases.
Netflix tumbled 6.5% after the video streaming service forecast slower-than-expected subscriber growth during the third quarter, pulling the communication services sector down 0.4%.
The S&P 500 utilities, real estate and healthcare indexes were the session's strongest gainers.
However, a 1.5% drop in Goldman Sachs helped keep the Dow in negative territory.
For the week, the S&P 500 and the Dow rose 1.2% and 2.3%, respectively, after optimism over an eventual coronavirus vaccine and hopes of a post-pandemic economic recovery helped investors look past a continuous surge in COVID-19 cases.
The United States witnessed 77,000 new infections on Thursday.
The Nasdaq ended 1.1% lower for the week as investors sold shares of high-flying companies including Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc and moved into cyclical sectors.
Next week, second-quarter earnings season shifts into high gear with reports expected from corporate heavyweights including Microsoft, Tesla, Intel and Verizon Communications.
With this year largely written off as a disaster for U.S. corporations because of the coronavirus, investors are looking for information from companies about the potential size and timing of an eventual recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.23% to end at 26,672.36 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.29% to 3,224.75.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.28% to 10,503.19.
Unprecedented stimulus measures and improving economic data have helped the S&P 500 rise to within about 5% of its February record high..
(Production: Soren Larson, Fred Katayama) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None