A strong increase in financial stocks lifted Wall Street on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones reaching all-time highs.
Major U.S. banks reported strong earnings, overshadowing mixed economic data released earlier.
The S&P 500 (tracked by SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY) rose 0.7% to over 5,800 points, boosting its year-to-date gain to nearly 23%. The Dow Jones (tracked by SPDR Dow Jones ETF DIA) climbed 0.8% to 42,780 points.
Record Highs Amid Strong Bank Earnings
Financial stocks were the key drivers of the market surge, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF gaining 1.9%.
JPMorgan Chase JPM reported Q3 earnings per share (EPS) of $4.37, higher than expected, causing shares to rise over 4%. Wells Fargo WFC saw a 6.2% increase after beating EPS estimates. Bank of New York Mellon BK also exceeded expectations, with shares up 1.8%. BlackRock BLK rose 3.4% after reporting strong earnings. Other major banks also saw gains of 2% to 4.8%.
The regional bank index (SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KRE) rose 3.5%, boosting the Russell 2000 index by 1.3%.
Mixed Economic Data
Economic data showed a higher-than-expected Producer Price Index (PPI) and a drop in consumer sentiment. The PPI rose to 1.8% year-over-year in September. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment fell to 68.9 in October.
Despite these mixed signals, the strong bank earnings kept investor optimism high ahead of the upcoming corporate earnings season.
Top Performers: S&P 500
| Stock | Sector | Price | 1-day Return (%) |
| Uber UBER | Industrials | 84.21 | 8.07% |
| Fastenal FAST | Industrials | 75.13 | 7.34 |
| Wells Fargo | Financials | 60.99 | 5.61 |
| Grainger GWW | Industrials | 1,079.38 | 5.29 |
| Bank of America BAC | Financials | 41.97 | 4.99 |
Top Performers: Dow
| Stock | Sector | Price | 1-day Return (%) |
| JPMorgan | Financials | 221.99 | 4.30 |
| Boeing BA | Industrials | 150.55 | 2.68 |
| Goldman Sachs | Financials | 513.51 | 1.94 |
| Intel INTC | Information Technology | 23.63 | 1.78 |
| American Express AXP | Financials | 274.73 | 1.58 |
For more details, check out JPMorgan Chase Q3 Earnings Report.
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