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BUSINESS Saturday 27 July 2019
A25

US stocks reach records following strong earnings

By STAN CHOE was more than triple the
Associated Press gain of any of the other 10
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock sectors that make up the
indexes rose Friday follow- index.
ing strong profit reports CONNECTED: The Justice
from Google's parent com- Department approved T-
pany, Twitter and other big Mobile's $26.5 billion ac-
corporations. The S&P 500 quisition of Sprint after the
again flirted with its record companies agreed to sell
and was on track to close some of their assets to sat-
out its third winning week in ellite-TV provider Dish, so
the last four. that the number of major
Companies are nearly U.S. wireless companies re-
midway through earnings mains at four.
season, and reports have Sprint rose 5.9%, and T-Mo-
generally been better than bile US gained 3.3%.
the dismal expectations PERKED UP: Starbucks rose
that analysts had coming 7.3% after new cold drinks
into it. A government re- helped it report stronger
port on Friday also showed earnings than expected.
that U.S. economic growth The coffee chain also
slowed in the spring, down raised its profit forecast for
to an annual pace of 2.1% In this Friday, July 19 2019, file photo specialist Mark Otto, left, and trader Fred DeMarco work on the year.
from 3.1% in the first three the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. GREAT IS NO LONGER
months of the year, but it Associated Press GOOD ENOUGH: Amazon
was still stronger than econ- Investors also see them as a Nasdaq composite was up A FOR AWESOME: Alpha- made $2.62 billion in profit
omists expected. shot of adrenaline for stocks 1%. bet, Google's parent com- from April through June,
All the reports show an and other risky investments. NOT SO BAD CAN BE pany, soared to one of the nearly enough to give
economy that's strength- The European Central Bank GOOD: Analysts came into biggest gains in the S&P every American adult a
ening, but with a growing earlier this week held its key this earnings reporting sea- 500 after it reported much month of Amazon Prime for
pile of concerns, which in- interest rate steady, but son expecting a drop of stronger profit growth than free.
vestors say bolsters their ex- it made clear that more roughly 3% in earnings per analysts expected. It also But its growth fell short of
pectations for the Federal stimulus is likely soon on the share for S&P 500 compa- allayed investors' concerns analysts' expectations, and
Reserve to cut interest rates way. nies, according to FactSet. about advertising trends shares of the retailing be-
at its meeting next week. In the United States, inves- That would mean the sec- after reporting stronger hemoth fell 1.4%.
It would be the first cut tors think there's virtually ond straight quarterly de- growth in revenue than YIELDS: Treasury yields held
in more than a decade, 100% certainty that the Fed cline in profits, something Wall Street forecast. relatively steady, as inves-
when the Fed was trying to will cut its benchmark short- that hadn't happened for Alphabet shares surged tors continue to settle on
shock the economy out of term rate on Wednesday, three years. 10.8% and were on pace expectations for the Feder-
the Great Recession. likely by a quarter of a But while reports this earn- for their biggest gain in four al Reserve to cut short-term
Consumer spending is percentage point from its ings season have been years. rates by only a quarter of
strong, and employers current range of 2.25% to less than overwhelming, SINGING: Twitter shares a percentage point next
continue to add jobs ev- 2.50%. they haven't been terrible. jumped 9.2% after it report- week, rather than the half-
ery month. But businesses KEEPING SCORE: The S&P Among the 44% of compa- ed stronger user numbers point cut that some inves-
are hesitant to invest, and 500 was up 0.6% at 3,021, nies in the S&P 500 that have and revenue for the sec- tors were earlier thinking.
manufacturing worldwide as of 11:50 a.m. Eastern already reported, earnings ond quarter than investors The 10-year Treasury yield
has slowed amid President time. If it stays that high, it have been up a little more expected. remained at 2.07%. The
Donald Trump's trade war. will surpass its record set on than 1% from year-ago lev- The big gains for Alphabet two-year yield, which is
Inflation also remains low. Wednesday. els. That means analysts are and Twitter meant stocks in more influenced by the
Lower interest rates could The Dow Jones Industrial now forecasting a more the communications sector Fed's movements, rose to
boost economic activity Average was up 27 points, modest 2.3% drop for the were the best performers in 1.87% from 1.84% late Thurs-
and goose inflation higher. or 0.1%, at 27,168, and the S&P 500 index overall. the S&P 500, up 3.2%. That day. q

SoftBank sets up $108B investment fund, with no Saudi money

By YURI KAGEYAMA SoftBank's earlier Vision communications and solar
Associated Press Fund 1, now totaling $70 energy businesses. It has
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese billion, came under scru- invested in British IoT com-
internet company SoftBank tiny after the killing of Saudi pany ARM, and developed
Group Corp. has set up a journalist Jamal Khashog- Pepper, the talking com-
new fund for investing in gi. Much of the funding panion robot.
technologies such as artifi- for that investment entity Chief Executive Masayo-
cial intelligence. came from Saudi Arabia. shi Son has denounced
Tokyo-based SoftBank said SoftBank has promised Khashoggi's killing, but he
Friday its $108 billion Vision to diversify its funding and others at Softbank
Fund 2 includes $38 billion sourcesm and Vision Fund 2 have defended the Japa-
from SoftBank. The rest is does not include any Saudi nese technology giant's in-
from Apple, FoxConn Tech- In this April 9, 2019, photo, a man walks past in front of a Soft- money. vestment fund, saying the
nology Group, Microsoft Bank shop in Tokyo. Japanese internet company SoftBank Group companies of Soft- money came from various
Corp., Japanese banks Group Corp. set up its second investment fund for technology bank include Yahoo Japan Saudi investors, not one
such as artificial intelligence.
and other companies. Associated Press and various mobile tele- individual.q