The S&P 500 Retail Index has broken its intraday record in all sessions this week as investors viewed the results as a sign of robust consumer demand.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached record highs in after closing a Thursday hectic, as investors focused on positive results from the retail and technology companies, which eclipsed comments an official of the Federal Reserve (Fed ) on inflation.
The Dow Jones continued to lag, posting its third decline this week as a decline from Cisco Systems Inc weighed on the benchmark.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60.10 points, or 0.17%, to 35,870.95 units, while the S&P 500 gained 15.87 points, or 0.34%, to 4,704.54. The Nasdaq Composite added 72.14 points, or 0.45%, to 15,993.71 points.
Inflation continues to be in the focus of investors’ attention. Stock markets initially fell after Federal Reserve Bank of New York chairman John Williams said inflation is spreading and expectations of future price increases are growing.
However, both the S&P and Nasdaq had rebounded later, with the latter being supported by Nvidia . The chipmaker soared after beating quarterly estimates and forecasting strong revenue in the fourth quarter.
The performance helped the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hit a new all-time high, before it also eased a bit.
The S&P luxury consumer sector led gains among its peers, as positive results from Macy “s and Kohl” s retailers joined upbeat reports from Walmart Inc and Target Corp earlier this week.
The S&P 500 Retail Index has broken its intraday record in all sessions this week as investors viewed the results as a sign of robust consumer demand.