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Wall Street Close: US stocks finished on the right foot this week, its best since July

  • The Dow Jones Industrial, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite posted gains between 0.7% and 1.6% on Friday.
  • US Retail Sales surprised to the upside, while the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell.
  • The USD/JPY reached five-year highs above 114.00.
  • Bitcoin broke the $60,000 barrier, trades at All-Time-Highs.

US equities finished on a higher note in the week, the best since July on the back of solid corporate earnings and a better than expected Retail Sales report. The US T-bond yields rose while the greenback fell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.1% to 35,294.76, up 1.6% on the week. The S&P 500 added 0.7% to 4,471.37 and climbed 1.8% for the week, while the heavy-tech Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.5%, to 14,897.34, and gained 2.2% for the week.

Mixed US macroeconomic data could not suppress the rise of stocks

US Retail Sales surprisingly increased in September, suggesting resilient demand for goods. The headline showed an increase of 0.7% more than the 0.2% contraction foreseen by analysts. Excluding Autos, it expanded 0.8% higher than the 0.5% estimated.

As coronavirus infections increased in August and September, demand for services decreased as people shifted their spending toward goods. Increasing spending on merchandise would likely exert additional pressure on the supply chains, which have not been able to keep up with growing demand.

Further, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell to its lowest level since 2011. The preliminary reading fell to 71.4 from 72.8 in September, data showed. Estimations were at 73.1. Additionally, according to the report, consumers expect an inflationary reading of 4.8% over the next year.

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback’s performance against a basket of six rivals, lost 0.02% and was last seen at 93.957, while the US 10-year Treasury yield rose five basis points (bps) closed at 1.574%, finishing down for the first week out of five.

In the forex market, the EUR/USD advanced 0.04% to finish at 1.1601, while the GBP/USD closed at five-week highs, at 1.3743 for a 0.52% gain on Friday. The USD/JPY followed the US T-bond 10-year benchmark note coupon, ended at five-year highs, at 114.20, 0.46% up in the day. The AUD/USD held to its five-week highs around 0.7414.

In the commodities market, Gold (XAU/USD) slid 1.59%, finished at $1,767.20 troy ounce, whereas Silver (XAG/USD) followed its footprints, slumped 0.98%, at $23.28. US Crude oil benchmark, Western Texas Intermediate (WTI), heightened 1.22%, at $81.93 per barrel.

In the Crypto environment, at the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at new all-time highs, above $62,000,  on the possibility of a 90% chance that the SEC will approve a Bitcoin ETF while Ethereum is trading around $3,878.