Traders on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Source: The New York Stock Exchange
Futures pegged to key US equities benchmarks held steady overnight trading on Thursday as Wall Street appeared to end the week with modest gains.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 30 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were both down about 0.1%.
Shares of Disney were up more than 2% in expanded trading after the company reported strong growth in paid streaming subscribers and crushed expectations in its fiscal first quarter 2021 earnings report. Disney said it now has nearly 95 million paid subscribers to its Disney + streaming service.
The main averages are on track to post a positive week at record levels, although the strong rally in early February seemed to be taking a breather. The blue-chip Dow fell slightly from a record set on Thursday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both fluctuated and hit record highs.
The market boomed as investors remained hopeful of a smooth economic reopening and additional Covid stimulus. The Dow is up 0.9% this week, bringing gains to 4.8% in February. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up 0.8% and 1.2% from the week to date, respectively, and are up 5.4% and 7.3% this month.
“In between ongoing medical and economic improvements, markets continue to expect a much better 2021 and that has supported prices,” Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network, said in a note. “Fourth quarter earnings are well above expectations, and analysts are now adjusting their earnings expectations for 2021 upwards.”
President Joe Biden said on Thursday that his government has closed deals for an additional 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna and Pfizer, bringing the US total to 600 million. He added that the US will have enough supplies for 300 million Americans by the end of July.
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