More records on Friday for Wall Street with the Dow ending the session and the week above 28,000 for the first time.
Revived hopes for a US-China trade deal was the ostensible driver – despite average retail sales data and weak production figures – but there was also a feeling that investors decided to make history and push the Dow higher for the new record close.
But that didn’t boost the ASX where futures indicate a less than solid 3 point fall this morning after Friday’s 0.9% rise.
The Dow hit 28,000 for the first time after posting a fourth straight week of gains, while the S&P500 index rallied for the sixth week, its longest winning streak in two years (since November 2017).
The Dow rose 222.93 points, or 0.8%, to 28,004.89, while the S&P 500 index added 23.83 points, or 0.77%, to end at 3,120.46. The Nasdaq was up 61.81 points, or 0.73%, to 8,540.83.
Year-to-date the Dow is up 20.05%, the S&P 500 has jumped 24.48% and the Nasdaq is the best of the lot with a 28.72% gain. Apple shares are up more than 68% so far this year and that gain has helped the Dow to its record closes for the past month or so.
Eurozone shares gained 0.3% (after a 0.6% rise on Friday). Japanese shares fell 0.4% and Chinese shares fell 2.4%. Australian shares rose by 1% thanks to Friday’s solid bounce.
Local market expectations for an RBA rate cut re-emerged after the weak wages and jobs data releases by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
As of Friday’s close Australian shares are now just 1.2% away from a record high. The ASX 200 jump 58.6 points, or 0.9%, to finish at 6,793.7, not far from the all-time high of 6875.5 hit in late July.
Iron ore prices defied the gurus in the local media and investment analysis and rose for the week.
The $A fell to 68.14 US cents – down nearly a quarter of a cent as expectations for further RBA rate cuts again rose.
