Wall Street ended slightly higher on Friday after the announcement of much stronger growth than expected in the first quarter in the United States and a new burst of contrasting corporate results, pushing the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to record levels.
The markets welcomed the better than expected results of Amazon (+2.5%) and Ford Motor (+10.7%), but punished those of Intel (-9%) and ExxonMobil (-2%), which strongly disappointed.
At the closing, the Dow rose 0.31% to 26,543 points, while the broad S & P 500 index advanced 0.47% to 2,939 points and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.34% to 8,146 points.
For the Nasdaq and the S & P 500, it is the second record in one week, after that they entered Tuesday. Over the week as a whole, the DJIA remained stable, while the S & P 500 gained 0.8% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.8%.
Throughout the week, stock indexes were wavering between contrasting corporate earnings announcements. In the Dow Jones, which has only 30 members, the good results of companies like Microsoft (+5.1% over the week) were offset by disappointments for 3M (-13%),Intel (-11%), AT & T (4.2%), Caterpillar (-3.7%) and Procter & Gamble (-0.6%). The biggest component of the DJIA, Apple, for its part stagnated on the week, pending the release of its earnings next Tuesday, April 30.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500, based on much larger stocks, however, benefited from the better-than-expected accounts of many groups, including Amazon, Ford Motor, Microsoft, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Hasbro, Twitter, United Technologies and Lockheed Martin.
The growth figures released on Friday showed that Gross Domestic Product had jumped 3.2% in the first quarter, well ahead of expectations. They also reported a measured increase in consumer prices excluding food and energy (+1.3%).
Investors will particularly watch the press conference that will close on May 1, the next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Fed.