US markets extend gains to settle higher on Friday

15 May 2021 Evaluate

Extending their previous session’s gains, the US markets settled higher on Friday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly strong advance, as traders continued to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the sell-off seen earlier in the week. A report from the Commerce Department showing retail sales were virtually unchanged in April after soaring by an upwardly revised 10.7 percent in March may also have eased recent concerns about the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy. Street had expected retail sales to jump by 1.0 percent compared to the 9.8 percent spike originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in the US increased by less than expected in the month of April. The report said industrial production climbed by 0.7 percent in April after soaring by an upwardly revised 2.4 percent in March. Street had expected industrial production to surge up by 1.0 percent compared to the 1.4 percent jump originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment in the US has unexpectedly decreased in the month of May. The report showed the consumer sentiment index dropped to 82.8 in May from 88.3 in April. The decrease surprised market participants, who had expected the index to rise to 90.4.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 360.68 points or 1.06 percent to 34,382.13, Nasdaq gained 304.99 points or 2.32 percent to 13,429.98 and S&P 500 was up by 61.35 points or 1.49 percent to 4,173.85.

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