Dow ends at record, capping strong week for US stocks

NEW YORK (AFP) - The Dow finished at a record Friday (Oct 22), capping a strong week for US stocks following mostly solid corporate earnings that have offset worries about inflation. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.2 per cent at 35,677.02, its first record since mid-August. But both of the other two major indices retreated, even as all three indices won gains for the week. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.8 per cent to 15,090.20, while the broad-based S&P 500 ended down 0.1 per cent to 4,544.90. For the week, the S&P 500 was up 2.4 per cent. "While just about every company is talking about supply chain pressures, you're not seeing a lot of companies talking about how demand is falling," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare. O'Hare said investors have been reassured by statements that companies have managed to pass on price increases to consumers, preserving profit margins. Among individual companies, American Express jumped 5.4 per cent as it reported better-than-expected profits on rising consumer spending. But Snap plunged 26.6 per cent as it cited a hit from Apple's move to change its privacy settings that have made it more difficult to ta...

Markets adjusting to new emerging normal

SINGAPORE - After "talking about talking about" tapering for months, the United States Federal Reserve finally acknowledged the build-up of inflationary pressures, sending markets into a tizzy during the past week. While suggesting a potential end to its quantitative easing in about two years, the Fed last Wednesday gave no indication as to when it would begin cutting back on its bond-buying programme. "You can think of this meeting that we had as the 'talking about talking about' meeting," Fed boss Jerome Powell said in a phrase that recalled a statement he made a year ago that the Fed was not "thinking about thinking about raising rates". Nevertheless, policymakers indicated at least two rounds of hikes in 2023, but done in a measured manner so as not to disrupt the financial markets. But the news was enough to trigger a knee-jerk selldown of stocks, making it the worst week on Wall Street since October last year. The Dow Jones fell sharply last Friday, the second consecutive weekly loss for the big board index, which ended at 33,290.08 for a 3.4 per cent loss. The broader S&P index lost 2 per cent to end at 4,166.45, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended flat for the week at 14,030....