The benchmark US indices booked another round of record closing highs and weekly gains on Friday ahead of the long weekend as the fourth quarter earnings season unofficially kicked off, with results from a brace of major financial names - Dow up +228-points or +0.89% and within 200-point of 26,000. The broader S&P500 gained +0.67%, with 8 of the 11 primary sectors finishing in positive territory. Consumer-discretionary and energy shares led the gains, up 1.3% and 1% respectively and the index is enjoying its best 10-day start to a new year since 2003 (up +4.2%). As a side note, the Technology and Financial sectors have added US$2.95 trillion in market capitalisation since the US Presidential election - more than the other 9 sectors combined. The technology-centric NASDAQ settled +0.68% higher. The small capitalisation focused Russell 2000 index rose +0.33%. It was another strong weekly performance for the US equity markets, with the Dow up +2.01%, S&P500 +1.57%, Nasdaq +1.74% and Russell 2000 +2%. The US dollar remained under pressure, with the dollar index hitting a 3-year low of 90.943US bond and equity markets are closed on Monday (15 January) for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
