The results of companies that combine the technology index NASDAQ pushed the other key indices higher and the U.S. stock market closed the week with earnings of about 1.5%. The strong results which announced by technological giants such as Intel and Apple offered weekly gains of 2.9% on Nasdaq, while an increase of 1.3% was recorded by Dow Jones and S&P 500.
On the other hand, the financial sector recorded another drop – on weekly basis – by 0.2%. This is the seventh consecutive week that the financial sector records weekly losses.
At Thursday’s meeting, the small increase in key indices was enough to lead Dow Jones at its highest level of the past 2.5 years. Also, to the highest level of the past two months concluded the transactions the other two main key indices.
Investors also focused on the forex market as the decline of the dollar in 16 months low against the euro boosted the prices of the commodities shares. New high record recorded the price of gold which closed over the psychological level of $1,500 per ounce while the price of crude oil closed the trading session at $112 a barrel.
Dow Jones gained 52.45 points (0.42%) and closed at 12,505.99 points. NASDAQ gained 17.65 points (0.63%) and closed at 2,820.16 points. S&P 500 increased by 7.02 points (0.53%) and closed at 1,337.38 points.
Of the 30 stocks that combine the Dow Jones index 20 closed in positive sign and 10 in negative. Of these, the largest percentage gains were recorded by the Travelers Companies which closed at $61.32 with an increase of $2.19 or 3.70%. IBM followed with profits of 2.14% at $168.28 and Alcoa which closed at $16.97 with an increase of 1.98%.
In contrast, the three stocks with the worst performance were Pfizer (-2.94%), the Verizon (-2.33%) and General Electric (-2.21%).
