US Stocks closed higher on Friday as both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hit record highs. Strong US Q1 GDP Growth data saw the Bulls dominate in low volume trading day.
Rising stocks on the New York Stock Exchange outnumbered declining ones by 2029 to 940 with 114 ending the day unchanged. The Nasdaq Stock Exchange saw similar results. By the close of trading on Friday, 1760 stocks posted gains, 879 declined, whilst 76 closed unchanged.
Strong US Q1 GDP Growth
Spurring a rise in stocks was the release of positive US Q1 GDP Growth data. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Friday that gross domestic product posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.2% growth in the first quarter of the year. The surprise reading easily surpassed analysts expectations for a 2.0% reading.
The unexpected rise in US Q1 GDP Growth was attributed to a rise in net trade, which offset a concerning slowdown in US consumer spending. The US economy, the world’s largest, is nearly 70% consumer spending driven. Any slowdown in such a key area of the economy would have a detrimental effect on most other areas of the US economy.
US real consumer spending more than halved in the last two monthly data releases, falling from 2.5% to 1.2%. Real Consumer Spending measures the amount of money spent by households in the US economy, adjusted for inflation.
US Stocks Hit Record Highs
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) results release provided a boost to the S&P 500 which stayed mainly flat for much of the early North American trading session.
Stocks in Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) closed 2.5% higher following the commerce giant’s quarterly profit doubling. The results easily surpassed analysts expectations. However, the second quarter guidance was lower than market expectations.
Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) was the largest percentage gainer of the day, surging 10.7% following the auto giants better-than-expected quarterly earnings report.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.47% or 13.71 points, to 2,939.88. Overall for the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.2%.
Meanwhile, staying with US indices, the Nasdaq Composite closed up 27.72 points, or 0.34%, to 8,146.40. Strong gains made in the Consumer Goods, Telecoms and Healthcare sectors led Nasdaq stocks to their record close.
