Stocks finished higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing out the session at record levels.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose aproximatelly 0.5 %, while the Dow finished just a tick above the flatline. U.S. stocks shook off earlier declines after following a drop in overseas equities, after new data showed that UK gross domestic product (GDP) slumped by a report 9.9 % in 2020 as a virus-induced recession swept the country.

Shares of Dow component Disney (DIS) reversed earlier gains to fall more than 1 % and pull back from a record extremely high, after the company posted a surprise quarterly profit and produced Disney+ streaming prospects much more than expected. Newly public business Bumble (BMBL), which set about trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday, rose another 7 % after jumping sixty three % in the public debut of its.

Over the older couple weeks, investors have absorbed a bevy of stronger than expected earnings benefits, with corporate earnings rebounding much faster than expected despite the continuous pandemic. With more than eighty % of businesses right now having reported fourth quarter results, S&P 500 earnings per share (EPS) have topped estimates by seventeen % in aggregate, and bounced back above pre COVID amounts, in accordance with an analysis by Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Golub.

“Prompt and good government behavior mitigated the [virus-related] injury, leading to outsized economic and earnings surprises,” Golub said. “The earnings recovery has been substantially more robust than we may have imagined when the pandemic for starters took hold.”

Stocks have continued to set up new record highs against this backdrop, and as fiscal and monetary policy assistance remain robust. But as investors come to be comfortable with firming business performance, businesses might have to top even bigger expectations in order to be rewarded. This can in turn put some pressure on the broader market in the near-term, as well as warrant much more astute assessments of individual stocks, in accordance with some strategists.

“It is actually no secret that S&P 500 performance has been very strong over the past few calendar years, driven mostly through valuation development. Nevertheless, with the index P/E [price-to-earnings ratio] recently eclipsing its previous dot com extremely high, we believe that valuation multiples will begin to compress in the coming months,” BMO Capital Markets strategist Brian Belski wrote in a note Thursday. “According to our work, strong EPS growth would be important for the following leg greater. Fortunately, that is precisely what current expectations are forecasting. Nevertheless, we also realized that these types of’ EPS-driven’ periods tend to become more complicated from an investment strategy standpoint.”

“We believe that the’ easy cash days’ are actually more than for the time being and investors will have to tighten up their focus by evaluating the merits of individual stocks, instead of chasing the momentum-laden practices that have just recently dominated the investment landscape,” he added.

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4:00 p.m. ET: Stocks end higher, S&P 500 and Nasdaq reach record closing highs
Here is where the key stock indexes finished the session:

S&P 500 (GSPC): +18.55 points (+0.47 %) to 3,934.93

Dow (DJI): +27.44 points (+0.09 %) to 31,458.14

Nasdaq (IXIC): +69.70 points (+0.5 %) to 14,095.47

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2:58 p.m. ET:’ Climate change’ would be the most-cited Biden policy on company earnings calls: FactSet
Fourth-quarter earnings season represents the very first with President Joe Biden in the White House, bringing a brand new political backdrop for corporations to contemplate.

Biden’s policies around environmental protections and climate change have been the most cited political issues brought up on company earnings calls up to this point, based on an analysis from FactSet’s John Butters.

“In terms of government policies talked about in conjunction with the Biden administration, climate change and energy policy (twenty eight), tax policy (twenty COVID-19 and) policy (19) have been cited or perhaps talked about by probably the highest number of companies through this point on time in 2021,” Butters wrote. “Of these 28 firms, 17 expressed support (or perhaps a willingness to your workplace with) the Biden administration on policies to greatly reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. These seventeen companies either discussed initiatives to minimize the own carbon of theirs and greenhouse gas emissions or maybe services or items they provide to assist clients & customers lower the carbon of theirs and greenhouse gas emissions.”

“However, four companies also expressed a number of concerns about the executive order setting up a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands (and offshore),” he added.

The list of 28 companies discussing climate change and energy policy encompassed organizations from a diverse array of industries, including JPMorgan Chase, United Airlines Holdings and 3M, alongside conventional oil majors as Chevron.

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11:36 a.m. ET: Stocks combined, S&P 500 and Nasdaq turn positive
Here’s where markets were trading Friday intraday:

S&P 500 (GSPC): +7.87 points (+0.2 %) to 3,924.25

Dow (DJI): -8.77 points (-0.03 %) to 31,421.93

Nasdaq (IXIC): +28.15 points (+0.21 %) to 14,053.77

Crude (CL=F): +$0.65 (+1.12 %) to $58.89 a barrel

Gold (GC=F): +$0.20 (+0.01 %) to $1,827.00 per ounce

10-year Treasury (TNX): +2.7 bps to yield 1.185%

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10:15 a.m. ET: Consumer sentiment unexpectedly plunges to a six month low in February: U. Michigan
U.S. consumer sentiment slid to the lowest level after August in February, based on the Faculty of Michigan’s preliminary once a month survey, as Americans’ assessments of the path forward for the virus-stricken economy unexpectedly grew much more grim.

The headline consumer sentiment index dipped to 76.2 from 79.0 in January, sharply losing out on expectations for an increase to 80.9, as reported by Bloomberg consensus data.

The whole loss of February was “concentrated in the Expectation Index and involving households with incomes under $75,000. Households with incomes of the bottom third reported significant setbacks in the current finances of theirs, with fewer of the households mentioning latest income gains than whenever since 2014,” Richard Curtin chief economist for the university’s Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement.

“Presumably a new round of stimulus payments will lessen fiscal hardships among those with probably the lowest incomes. Much more shocking was the finding that consumers, despite the likely passage of a large stimulus bill, viewed prospects for the national economy less favorably in early February compared to more month,” he added.

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9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks open lower, but pace toward posting weekly gains
Here’s where markets were trading only after the opening bell:

S&P 500 (GSPC): -8.31 points (-0.21 %) to 3,908.07

Dow (DJI): -19.64 (-0.06 %) to 31,411.06

Nasdaq (IXIC): 53.51 (+0.41 %) to 13,970.45

Crude (CL=F): -1dolar1 0.23 (-0.39 %) to $58.01 a barrel

Gold (GC=F): -1dolar1 10.70 (0.59 %) to $1,816.10 per ounce

10-year Treasury (TNX): +3.2 bps to deliver 1.19%

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9:05 a.m. ET: Equity funds see highest weekly inflows ever as investors pile into tech stocks: Bank of America
Stock funds simply discovered their largest ever week of inflows for the period ended February 10, with inflows totaling a record $58.1 billion, as reported by Bank of America. Investors pulled a total of $800 million out of gold and $10.6 billion out of profit during the week, the firm added.

Tech stocks in turn saw their own record week of inflows at $5.4 billion. U.S. large cap stocks saw their second largest week of inflows ever at $25.1 billion, and U.S. tiny cap inflows saw their third largest week at $5.6 billion.

Bank of America warned that frothiness is actually rising in markets, nevertheless, as investors keep piling into stocks amid low interest rates, as well as hopes of a solid recovery for corporate profits and the economy. The firm’s proprietary “Bull and Bear Indicator” monitoring market sentiment rose to 7.7 from 7.5, nearing an 8.0 “sell” signal.

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7:14 a.m. ET Friday: Stock futures point to a lower open
The following had been the primary moves in markets, as of 7:16 a.m. ET Friday:

S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,904.00, down 8.00 points or 0.2%

Dow futures (YM=F): 31,305.00, down fifty four points or even 0.17%

Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 13,711.25, down 17.75 points or perhaps 0.13%

Crude (CL=F): -1dolar1 0.43 (-0.74 %) to $57.81 a barrel

Gold (GC=F): -1dolar1 9.50 (0.52 %) to $1,817.30 per ounce

10-year Treasury (TNX): +0.5 bps to deliver 1.163%

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6:03 p.m. ET Thursday: Stock futures tick higher
Here’s in which marketplaces had been trading Thursday as overnight trading kicked off:

S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,904.50, down 7.5 points or even 0.19%

Dow futures (YM=F): 31,327.00, down thirty two points or even 0.1%

Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 13,703.5, down 25.5 points or 0.19%