US markets end higher on Friday

14 Oct 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Friday with Dow Jones Industrial Average settling over gains of 400 points. The strength on markets partly reflected a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly unchanged in September. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand came in flat in September after rising by 0.2 percent in August. Street had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent. The report also said the annual rate of growth by producer prices slowed to 1.8 percent in September from an upwardly revised 1.9 percent in August. Street had expected the annual rate of producer price growth to dip to 1.6 percent from the 1.7 percent originally reported for the previous month.

The data reinforced optimism the Federal Reserve will continue lowering interest rates in the coming months, although hopes for another 50 basis point cut next month have largely evaporated. On the economic data front, Banking stocks saw substantial strength on the upbeat earnings news from Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, driving the KBW Bank Index up by 3.0 percent to its best closing level in over two years. Significant strength was also visible among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent surge by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. Brokerage stocks also showed a strong move to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index climbing by 1.7 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 409.74 points or 0.97 percent to 42,863.86, Nasdaq surged 60.89 points or 0.33 percent to 18,342.94 and S&P 500 was up by 34.98 points or 0.61 percent to 5,815.03.