· Wall Street ascended on Thursday, with the S&P 500 wrapping up its biggest monthly increase since 2015 after strong earnings from Facebook Inc added to optimism after the Federal Reserve’s dovish remarks.
Facebook jumped 10.82 percent, its strongest daily rise since January 2016, after its quarterly profit topped expectations and showed that advertisers were still flocking to the social network even after a series of high-profile embarrassments.
“There was a severe lack of trust in the Fed a month ago, and that has been relieved,” said Craig Callahan, chief executive officer of Icon Advisors in Denver.
Better-than-expected results from many U.S. companies reporting in recent days are also fueling optimism on Wall Street, Callahan added.
The S&P 500 gained 0.86 percent to end at 2,704.1 points, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.37 percent to 7,281.74.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.06 percent to end at 24,999.67, hurt by DowDuPont Inc.
DowDuPont dropped 9.23 percent after the chemical maker’s revenue fell short of expectations. The S&P materials sector declined 1.54 percent.
The S&P 500 rose 7.9 percent in January, its best monthly performance since October 2015 and its best January since 1987.
The Nasdaq has gained 9.7 percent in 2019, while the Dow is up 7.2 percent.
· Stocks in Asia gained in Friday morning trade on the back of optimism on the U.S.-China trade front. Stocks stateside also closed out their best January in three decades overnight.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 percent while the Topix index gained 0.18 percent in early trade as shares of Fast Retailing advanced around 0.9 percent. Nintendo, however, dropped about 4.9 percent after the company cut its sales forecast for the Switch game console in the fiscal year ending March 2019.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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