Fresh record highs for all three benchmark US equity indices on Friday night AEST (23 July) after a rocky start to the trading week, with another round of strong corporate earnings booting investor sentiment - Dow up +238-points or +0.68% to 35,061.50, settling above 35,000 at its 6th attempt (having previously traded above threshold on five occasions but unable to close above it). A late session push also saw the Dow hit a fresh record intra-day high (35,095.33). Last Friday’s (23 July) comes 69 trading days after the Dow’s first close above 34,000, making it the slowest such rise since the 218-day gap between the run from a close above 29,000 to a finish above 30,000 that ended on 24 November, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It took the Dow 165 trading days to run from a close above 30,000 to a close above 35,000, its fastest 5,000 point milestone. Intel Corp fell 5.29% after the chipmaker posted better-than-expected second quarter numbers but an underwhelming third quarter earnings per share (EPS) and revenue outlook after the closing bell of last Thursday’s (22 July) session. The broader S&P500 gained +1.01% to 4,411.79. Communication Services (up +2.65%) led ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (down -0.43%) was the only primary sector to settle in the red. The Nasdaq gained +1.04% to 14,836.99. Social media firms Twitter Inc (up +3.05%) and Snap Inc (+23.82%) posted solid gains after releasing strong second quarter results after the closing bell last Thursday’s (22 July) session. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 added +0.46%.
