October 25, 2014

S&P 500 has best week since 2013

From Fortune

S&P 500 has best week since 2013

by  Tom Huddleston, Jr.  @tjhuddle
OCTOBER 24, 2014

Big gains by the stock market on Friday sent the index up 4.1% for the week snapping a four-week losing streak.

The stock market proved more or less immune to Ebola on Friday, as the three major U.S. indices rose sharply in what was one of the market’s strongest weeks this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained almost 128 points, or 0.8%, on Friday to close at 16,805, finishing the week up by 2.6%. The S&P 500 improved by 0.7%, to 1,965, and was up by 4.1% for the week in what was the index’s best weekly showings since last year.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite also gained 0.7% Friday, or 5.3% for the week, closing at 4,484. The big gains came despite the tech-heavy index suffering from an 8% drop by Amazon ( AMZN -8.34% ) after the online retail giant reported disappointing third-quarter earnings Thursday afternoon.

The strong week follows on the heels of more than a month of volatility during which the markets dropped sharply. Earlier this month, a massive market-wide sell-off briefly turned the Dow Jones negative for the year as investors grew concerned about global economic growth and potential interest rate hikes by U.S. Federal Reserve.

Friday’s gains come one day after the market opened higher thanks to a handful of strong earnings reports from 3M ( MMM 2.44% ), Caterpillar ( CAT 0.17% ), General Motors ( GM -2.88% ), and Under Armour ( UA -0.14% ). Investors were also encouraged by a dip in jobless claims and news from Europe about a spike in German manufacturing and a drop in Spain’s unemployment.

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