Morning Report: US sharemarkets advanced on Friday

The release of strong economic data underscored a booming US economy. Megacap technology shares rose ahead of earnings reports this week with Apple (+1.8%) and Tesla (+1.4%) both up. But blue chip shares of Honeywell (-2.1%), American Express (-1.9%) and Intel (-5.3%) weighed on the Dow Jones index after their quarterly results. Kimberly-Clark (-5.9%) reported a steep sales decline. But Snap shares jumped 7.5% after reporting strong first quarter results. The Dow Jones index closed up by 228 points or 0.7%. The S&P 500 index gained 1.1% and the Nasdaq index added 198 points or 1.4%. For the week, the Dow Jones index fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 index lost 0.1% and the Nasdaq index dipped 0.3%.