US markets end higher on Friday

29 Aug 2020 Evaluate

The US markets settled higher on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average erasing its losses for the year to date and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes carving out fresh record closes, as investors sifted through data on US consumer spending and confidence, a day after the Federal Reserve announced a policy shift that would allow employment and inflation to run hotter than in the past. The markets continued to benefit from optimism about the economic recovery following the coronavirus crisis, which has helped lift the major averages well off their March lows. The Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in personal income in July. The Commerce Department said personal income rose by 0.4 percent in July after slumping by 1.0 percent in June. The rebound surprised participants, who had expected income to dip by another 0.2 percent.

The report also showed a continued surge in personal spending, which jumped by 1.9 percent in July after spiking by 6.2 percent in June. Street had expected spending to increase by 1.5 percent. The University of Michigan also released a report showing consumer sentiment in the US improved by more than initially estimated in the month of August. The report said the consumer sentiment index for August was upwardly revised to 74.1 from the preliminary reading of 72.8. The index is now well above the July reading of 72.5. The upward revision came as a surprise to participants, who had expected the consumer sentiment index to be unrevised at 72.8.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 161.6 points or 0.57 percent to 28,653.87, Nasdaq gained 70.3 points or 0.6 percent 11,695.63 and S&P 500 was up by 23.46 points or 0.67 percent to 3,508.01.

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