The S&P 500 ticked to record highs Friday amid a sleepy summer trade as investors continued to look past a hotter-than-expected reading on inflation.
The S&P 500 advanced 8 points, or 0.2%, adding to Thursday’s all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, rose 0.04% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.35%. The Dow and Nasdaq ended 0.8% and 0.5% below their respective record peaks.
The S&P 500 on Thursday set a record despite consumer prices surging 5% annually, the most since August 2008.
In stocks, McDonald’s was hit by a data breach that impacted the U.S., South Korea, and Taiwan, according to The Wall Street Journal. This follows cyberattacks on JBS Foods and the Colonial Pipeline.
Dow component Boeing Co. gained after the U.S. and U.K. committed to settling a trade dispute over civil aircraft subsidies.
Shares of Royal Caribbean Group were lower after two guests on its Celebrity Millennium ship, which restarted sailing last week, tested positive COVID-19. Rivals Carnival Corp. and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. were limited by the news.
Elsewhere, Vertex Pharmaceuticals said it would end the development of liver disease drug VX-864 after a study found it was “unlikely to translate into substantial clinical benefit.”
In earnings, pet-products retailer Chewy Inc. reported earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates, but warned of labor shortages and supply chain issues.
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. reported quarterly sales surged 66% year over year as customers returned to locations as lockdowns eased. The company said revenue for the current quarter could return to 2019 levels, but cautioned that margins could be under pressure.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 62 cents to $70.91 per barrel, the highest since October 2018. Gold, meanwhile, slid $16.80 to $1,877.40 an ounce.
Overseas markets traded mixed, with strength in Europe and weakness in Asia.
European bourses rallied across the board with France’s CAC 40 up 0.83%, Britain’s FTSE 100 advancing 0.65% and Germany’s DAX 30 climbing 0.78%.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ticked up 0.36% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.03% and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.59%.
