US markets end mostly higher on Friday

20 Feb 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly higher on Friday amid continued optimism about more fiscal stimulus, as new Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged lawmakers to approve President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package. As per a report, Yellen suggested that the Biden administration's proposal could help the US get back to full employment within a year. Democrats have been hoping to pass a new stimulus bill with Republican support but may be forced to use the process known as reconciliation to approve a relief package without GOP votes. However, gains remained limited amid a jump in treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reading its highest closing level in almost a year. The recent increase in treasury yields has raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates amid worries about the prospects of higher inflation.

On the economic data front, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report showing another unexpected increase in US existing home sales in the month of January. NAR said existing home sales rose by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 6.69 million in January after climbing by 0.9 percent to a revised rate of 6.65 million in December. Compared to the same month a year ago, existing home sales in January were up by 23.7 percent. The continued growth came as surprise to market participants, who had expected existing home sales to tumble by 2.2 percent to a rate of 6.61 million from the 6.76 million originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.98 points to 31,494.32 and Nasdaq rose 9.11 points or 0.07 percent to 13,874.46, while S&P 500 was down by 7.26 points or 0.19 percent to 3,906.71.

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