A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 23, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street fell following a report that President Joe Biden will propose raising taxes on wealthy investors.
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 23, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street fell following a report that President Joe Biden will propose raising taxes on wealthy investors.
A currency trader passes by screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 23, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street fell following a report that President Joe Biden will propose raising taxes on wealthy investors.
A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 23, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street fell following a report that President Joe Biden will propose raising taxes on wealthy investors.
FILE – American flags hang outside of the New York Stock Exchange, in this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, file photo. Stocks were edging higher in early trading Friday, April 23, but the overall market is still on pace to end the week lower for the first weekly loss in five weeks.
Stocks closed out a choppy week of trading with a broad rally, though the gains were not enough to keep the S&P 500 from its first weekly loss in the last five.
The benchmark index rose 1.1% Friday, clawing back all of its losses from a day earlier. It posted a 0.1% loss for the week. The gains were shared broadly by nearly every sector in the index. Technology companies accounted for a big slice of the rally, along with banks, communication stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending. The utilities and consumer staples sectors closed slightly lower. Treasury yields inched higher.
Traders focused on company earnings from big names like Intel, American Express and Honeywell. Shares in Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Huggies diapers and other consumer products, fell by the most since last October after the company reported disappointing results.
Corporate earnings have been mostly positive, but investors are weighing economic growth against threats from the pandemic and worries about changes in tax policy.
“Earnings are very good,” said Chris Gaffney, president of TIAA Bank World Markets. “That’s going to support higher stock prices along with the low interest rate environment we’re seeing.”
The S&P 500 gained 45.19 points to 4,180.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 227.59 points, or 0.7%, to 34,043.49. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 198.40 points, or 1.4%, to 14,016.81.