It was a Merry (day after) Christmas for the U.S. financial markets on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 both closing at new records in a rally that followed a rise last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 23.5 points — 0.13 percent — to close at 18,053.71 for the day, while the S&P 500 posted a 6.89-point gain — 0.33 percent — to end at 2,088.77. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, finished up 33.39 points — 0.7 percent — at 4,806.86, according to USA Today.
It was the second straight weekly gain in all of the big indexes, and it was the Dow’s seventh gain in a row.
Apple was the one of the biggest winners on the market, seeing its shares jump 1.8 percent to $113.99, a gain of $1.98 per share.
The gains were shared in some of the global markets as well, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbing 0.1 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite jumped 3 percent. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is still looking into pumping about 3.5 trillion yen ($29 billion) into the economy to give it a jump start. The money would go toward subsidies and programs to boost jobs to help bring it out of recession.
The Russian ruble didn’t do as well, falling 4 percent on Friday as worries persist on the health of the Russian economy.
Many of the other worldwide markets, including Latin America, Europe, Canada, and some Asian markets, remained closed on Friday due to Boxing Day, which is a bank holiday in a significant portion of the world.
Meanwhile, oil prices continue to decline with supply of crude still very high, especially in the United States, according to Reuters. The U.S. Department of Energy reported earlier this week that crude inventories were at the highest December level ever recorded. Natural gas futures also declined below $3 after a bad week — its worst since February.
The U.S. dollar is performing solidly, reaching its highest point in more than seven years against the yen, and in more than two years against the euro. Investors clearly believe that the Federal Reserve’s intention to start hiking interest rates in a few months is indicative of a strengthening economy.
