Dow Hits Record High; BoJ Ramps Up Stimulus

NDTV Profit Desk

31 Oct 2014, 11:15 PM IST

New York: US stocks rose sharply on Friday, with the Dow hitting an intraday record high as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) significantly ramped up its stimulus program, just days after the Federal Reserve wound down its years-long package of incentives.

The S&P 500 came within 0.1 per cent of its record high, after the December e-minis contract hit an intraday record earlier.

Gains were broad, with the benchmark S&P 500 index posting 124 new 52-week highs and two new lows; and the Nasdaq Composite recording 214 new highs and 31 new lows. Among the biggest positives on the S&P 500, Abbvie shares rose 4 per cent after the drug maker reported quarterly earnings and said it could deliver strong long-term growth without rushing into another big merger attempt.

The BoJ's board voted to accelerate purchases of Japanese government bonds while tripling its purchases of exchange-traded funds and real-estate investment trusts.

That could help the outlook for stocks, especially if the US economy keeps improving.

"Economic growth (in the United States) is looking pretty good, earnings are good ... we will end the year certainly closer to 2,100 than 2,000 on the S&P 500," said Paul Zemsky, chief investment officer of multi-asset strategies and solutions at Voya Investment Management in New York.

The majority of S&P 500 companies are beating earnings expectations so far. With results in from 70 per cent of companies, 75.8 per cent are reporting earnings above analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, above the 63 per cent average in the past 20 years.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 172.81 points, or 1 per cent, to 17,368.23. The S&P 500 gained 19.12 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 2,013.77. The Nasdaq Composite added 59.55 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 4,625.69.

The US dollar rallied as well, pressuring crude oil prices and spot gold, which dropped 2.6 per cent, the most for any day this year. A strong dollar makes commodities such as oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies.

Among the day's biggest percentage gains, shares of Expedia rose 4.7 per cent, a day after it reported results. GoPro shares jumped 15.5 per cent after forecasting better-than-expected holiday quarter sales.

The largest decliner on the Nasdaq was Starbucks, down 2.0 per cent, a day after it reported results.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,185 to 828, for a 2.64-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,862 issues rose and 803 fell for a 2.32-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.