While buying interest was relatively subdued, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday. The markets extended the substantial recovery seen in the previous session, benefiting from a positive reaction to retail sales data.
The major averages ended the session well off their best levels of the day but still closed firmly in positive territory. The Dow jumped 125.71 points or 1.1 percent to 11,269.02, the Nasdaq rose 15.30 points or 0.6 percent to 2,507.98 and the S&P 500 climbed 6.17 points or 0.5 percent to 1,178.81.
Despite the gains on the day, the major averages still closed lower for the week. The Nasdaq fell by 1 percent for the week, while the Dow and the S&P 500 dropped by 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
Before the start of trading on Wall Street, the Commerce Department released a report showing a notable increase in retail sales in the month of July, easing some of the recent concerns about the economy.
The report showed that retail sales rose by 0.5 percent in July following an upwardly revised 0.3 percent increase in June. While sales rose by slightly less than the 0.6 percent increase expected by economists, the sales growth in July still marked the strongest growth since a 0.8 percent increase in March.
Additionally, the report showed that retail sales still rose by 0.5 percent excluding auto sales, topping expectations for a 0.3 percent increase.
The positive sentiment was partly offset by the release of a separate report from Reuters and the University of Michigan showing a substantial deterioration in consumer sentiment in the month of August.
Reuters and the U of M said that the preliminary reading on their consumer sentiment index for August came in at 54.9, down sharply from the final July reading of 63.7. Economists had been expecting the index to edge down to 63.0.
With the much bigger than expected decrease, the consumer sentiment index fell to its lowest level since hitting a record low of 51.7 in May of 1980.
However, Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, noted, "Consumer confidence is a reflection of things rather than a driver of them as consumers don't always act as they feel and it's why confidence figures are rarely market moving outside of the initial reaction."
Some buying interest was also generated by a rally in Europe, where stocks moved sharply higher on news that France, Italy, Spain and Belgium are instituting a ban on short-selling select stocks.
In corporate news, shares of Midas (MDS) surged up by 18.1 percent after the automotive services provider said its board will explore and evaluate a range of strategic and financial alternatives to enhance shareholder value, including a possible sale, merger or other business combination.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance on Friday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index slipped 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, as mentioned above, the major European markets all showed notable moves to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged up by 3 percent, while the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 3.5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries showed a strong move back to the upside after falling sharply in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 9.9 basis points to 2.237 percent.
Looking Ahead
Economic data is likely to remain in focus next week, with traders likely to pay close attention to reports on housing starts, industrial production, and producer and consumer price inflation.
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