After
closing at new highs Thursday, the Dow
Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all showed gains in early trading
Friday.Positive earnings reports helped bolster Thursday’s gains. Banks were in focus
Friday morning with JPMorgan Chase reporting quarterly earnings that beat expectations and revenue
just barely beating forecasts. Wells Fargo reported
earnings that beat expectations, while revenue was roughly in line with
forecasts.
However, shipping
giant UPS lowered
its outlook for profit growth this year. The parcel delivery company,
considered an economic bellwether, said it expects to report earnings of $1.13
a share when it officially reports results later this month.
Stocks jumped to record highs Thursday on news
from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke saying monetary policy would remain
"highly accommodative" for the foreseeable future. This comment,
implying the central bank would continue its massive program of quantitative
easing, helped push the Dow Jones industrial average to a record closing high of 15,460.99.
The S&P
500 also closed with a
record high -- 1675.03 -- breaking the previous record 1669.16, set on May 22.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq hit its highest level in over a decade.
International markets showed mixed results with European
markets making some
modest progress in midday trading Friday. Germany's DAX was the leading index, rising 0.6%. In
China, the Shanghai Composite index and the Hang
Seng index both fell after
seeing big gains earlier in the week. Investors were wary about China's growth projections after the country's finance minister
signaled growth could be 7% for the year, below the government's official
forecast of 7.5%. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index closed up 0.2%.
In
economic news, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its
monthly
report on the producer price index, showing an increase of 0.8% in June. That's
nearly triple the expected increase of 0.3%. The gains were largely driven by a
spike in gasoline prices.