A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
An employee of a bank walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
A currency trader watches computer monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
A currency trader watches computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
FILE – In this Jan. 13, 2021 file photo, people walk by the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as traders welcome some strong reports on the economy including a drop in jobless claims and a big increase in retail spending, as well as more robust earnings from big companies including Citigroup and United Healthcare
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rallying toward records on Thursday after a suite of encouraging data showed how hungry Americans are to spend again, how fewer workers are losing their jobs and how much fatter corporate profits are getting.
The S&P 500 was 1% higher at 4,164 in afternoon trading and on track to surpass its all-time high of 4,141.59 set on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was also on pace for a record, up 276 points, or 0.8%, at 34,007. The Nasdaq composite was 1.1% higher, as of 1:19 p.m. Eastern time.
Expectations are very high on Wall Street that the economy — and thus corporate profits — are in the midst of exploding out of the cavern created by the pandemic, thanks to COVID-19 vaccinations and massive support from the U.S. government and Federal Reserve. Report after report on Thursday only bolstered those expectations.
One report showed that U.S. retail sales jumped 9.8% in March from February, blowing past economists’ forecasts for 5.5% growth. Much of the surge was due to $1,400 payments from the U.S. government’s latest economic rescue effort hitting households’ bank accounts. Economists said it shows how primed people are to spend as the economy reopens and conditions brighten. That’s huge for an economy that’s made up mostly of consumer spending.
About the Author
