On Friday the the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) increased by over 250 points after encouraging economic reports and strong earnings from General Electric, Morgan Stanley, and Textron.
The Dow rose by 1.63 percent (263.17 points), up to 16,380.41. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index increased by 1.29 percent (24 points), up to 1,886.76, and the Nasdaq composite rose by 0.97 percent (41.05 points), up to 4,258.44.
General Electric shares went up by 57 cents to $24.82. Textron saw an increase of $2.99, or 9 percent, up to $36.65 because of earnings well ahead of what analysts had forecast – representing the second-biggest gain in the S&P 500 index.
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago said, “We had indiscriminate selling all week, and then today we had indiscriminate buying.”
However, investors can expect more volatility to come, given concerns over poor economic growth in Europe and declining oil prices.
All markets have experienced significant swings this week though, not only the New York Stock Exchange, but markets overseas, bonds, and commodities.
James Liu, global market strategist at JPMorgan Funds said, “Most of the swings this week were related to fears about global growth and not about the fundamentals of this market.”
For four weeks the market was on a downward track, with the the Standard & Poor 500 index 6 percent lower than its record high on 18th September.
