DOW keeps on hitting record highs, gains 1% for last week

The US stocks moved mostly higher on Friday. Nasdaq led while Dow ended modestly higher at a new record closing high. Nasdaq climbed 115.94 points (0.6%) to 18,489.55 and the S&P 500 rose 23.20 points (0.4%) to a new record closing high of 5,864.67. The narrower Dow recovered from an initial pullback to end the day up by 36.86 points (0.1%) at 43,275.91.

For the week, the Dow jumped by 1% while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq advanced by 0.9% and 0.8%. The Nasdaq benefitted from a sharp increase by shares of Netflix (NFLX), as the streaming giant soared by 11.1% to a record closing high. The surge by Netflix came after the company reported third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

American Express steeply dropped on account of pressure after reporting third quarter earnings that beat expectations but weaker than expected revenues which led to Dow tumbling by 3.2%.

According to the Commerce Department, housing starts fell by 0.5% to an annual rate of 1.354 million in September after spiking by 7.8% to a revised rate of 1.361 million in August. Building permits tumbled by 2.9% to an annual rate of 1.428 million in September after surging by 4.6% to a revised rate of 1.470 million in August due to a sharp pullback.

Gold stocks moved substantially upside driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 4.8% to its best closing level in almost four years. The rally by gold stocks came as the price of the precious metal reached new record highs.

Telecom stocks saw significant strength reflected by the 2.5% surge by the NYSE Arca Telecom Index. Airline stocks revealed considerable strength with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3% to a six-month closing high.

Retail and housing stocks notably moved upside while oil service stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil.

Asia-Pacific stock markets moved mostly higher, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite Index surged by 2.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index spiked by 3.6%.

The major European markets reported a mixed performance while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3%, the French CAC 40 Index and German DAX Index both climbed by 0.4%.

In the bond market, treasuries regained ground after pressure. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, dipped 2.3 bps to 4.07%.

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