US markets finished the week on a strong note with the more cyclical Dow Jones and S&P 500 adding 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively, whilst the Nasdaq was broadly flat.
Over the week all three indices were positive, up 3.4%, 2.7% and 2.4% with Biden’s infrastructure deal combined with some calming words from the Federal Reserve supporting sentiment.
More data was released on Friday showing the mixed strength of the economy with consumer spending in May finishing flat, well below forecasts of a 0.4% increase.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, the PCE or Core Personal Consumption Expenditure index, also missed expectations, increasing 0.5% in May as the impact of stimulus wore off.
Banking stocks including JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) also rallied after the long-awaited stress test showed the majority of the sector easily passed.
Nike hits record and space travel approved
Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) jumped 39% on Friday after receiving approval to complete consumer space travel whilst Nike (NYSE: NKE) hit a new record after recording a near doubling of sales over the last 12 months.
Nike announced a 96% increase in sales to US$12.3 billion on the back of emerging markets and online sales, which have also doubled to US$9 billion in just two years. The group now calls 300 million people members with Nike shares responding by jumping 15%.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US stocks closed out the week on Friday.
- Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) up 4.6%
- JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) up 4.5%
- Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) up 4.0%
- Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) down 1.4%
- Unity Software (NYSE: U) down 3.2%
- FedEx (NYSE: FDX) down 3.6%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to open broadly flat on Monday. For all the latest, check out Rask Media’s ASX 200 morning report.