Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Thursday 2 November 2017
A25
S&P 500 inches closer to record as global stocks rise

By STAN CHOE Nearly two thirds of com-
AP Business Writer panies in the S&P 500 have
NEW YORK (AP) — Rising en- said how they performed
ergy stocks helped nudge from July through Sep-
the Standard & Poor’s 500 tember, and the majority
close to its record high, have topped Wall Street’s
but drops for smaller stocks forecasts.They have been
left U.S. indexes mixed on reaping better revenue
Wednesday. and profits as the econo-
Markets around the world my strengthens, and a re-
were broadly higher as in- port on Thursday showed
vestors got more evidence that private employers
that the global economy is added more jobs last
strengthening and corpo- month than economists
rate profits are climbing. expected. It raises expec-
The Federal Reserve said tations that Friday’s more
the U.S. economy is rising comprehensive jobs report
“at a solid rate,” even with from the government will
damage from recent hur- be strong too.“What we’ve
ricanes, as it announced been waiting for the last
a decision to hold interest five-plus years is stronger
rates steady at their low economic growth lead-
levels. ing to better employment
The S&P 500 rose 4.10 Trader Gerard Farco watches a television on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange showing numbers, or one feeding
points, or 0.2 percent, to the rate decision of the Federal Reserve, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. With a new Federal Reserve into the other, and leading
2,579.36. Earlier in the day, leader about to be announced, the Fed is keeping its key interest rate unchanged. to stronger wage growth,”
it had climbed above (AP Photo/Richard Drew) said Jon Mackay, invest-
its record closing high of The small-cap Russell 2000 price of oil topped $55 per port a bigger profit than ment strategist at Schrod-
2,581.07 set last week. index lost 10.00 points, or barrel to touch its highest analysts expected. It rose ers. “We just haven’t seen
The Dow Jones industrial 0.7 percent, to 1,492.78. level since Jan. 3, though $10.31, or 9.2 percent, to the wage growth part of it,
average gained 57.77 Energy stocks led the mar- it backtracked as the day $122.12. but now we’re seeing the
points, or 0.3 percent, to ket, and those in the S&P went on.Estee Lauder The cosmetics giant joined wage growth start to tick
23,435.01. Other U.S. index- 500 rose 1.1 percent for the jumped to the biggest gain the growing list of com- through.”Other economies
es weakened. The Nasdaq biggest gain among the in the S&P 500 after strong panies that beat analysts’ around the world are also
composite fell 11.14 points, sectors that make up the in- sales growth in China and expectations for earnings improving in sync, which
or 0.2 percent, to 6,716.53. dex. They climbed after the Hong Kong helped it to re- in the most recent quarter. further raises optimism. q
Truck, SUV, rental car sales push October auto sales higher

By TOM KRISHER tors and Hyundai reported Nissan sales were up 8 per- reported gains of about 1 four of its brands posted
AP Auto Writer declines, with most auto- cent on record sales of the percent, while VW brand declines. Hyundai sales
DETROIT (AP) — Fueled by makers posting October Rogue small SUV, which sales were up nearly 12 per- were off more than 15 per-
increased demand from numbers on Wednesday. were up 43 percent. cent. cent with car sales suffer-
rental car companies, At Ford, sales rose 6 percent Analysts said Nissan also At Fiat Chrysler, sales ing as buyers shift toward
strong truck and SUV sales, due to a big gain in F-Series had a big increase in fleet dropped 13 percent as a trucks and SUVs.
and recovery from hurri- pickup demand and an in- sales, although the compa- 43 percent cut in fleet sales Most industry analysts had
canes in Florida and Texas, crease in sales to fleet buy- ny said sales to individual offset an October record expected October sales to
U.S. auto sales appear to ers such as governments buyers rose as well. for Ram pickup sales. GM fall after a big increase in
have posted a surprise in- and rental car companies. Toyota and Honda each sales fell 2 percent as all September. q
crease in October.
It would be the second
straight monthly increase
for the industry, which be-
fore September hadn’t
posted positive numbers in
any month this year.
But analysts say even a
strong finish to the year
won’t be enough to match
last year’s record sales of
more than 17.5 million. Still,
the industry should finish
2017 close to the record at
around 17 million vehicles.
Ford, Honda, Nissan, Toyo-
ta and Volkswagen all re-
ported gains for October,
defying expectations that
buyers would pull back and
that fewer people than ex-
pected would replace hur-
ricane-damaged vehicles.
Fiat Chrysler, General Mo-