Wall Street got its mojo back in January after finishing 2018 with its worst December since 1931. Stocks finished higher Thursday, closing out the month…
Wall Street got its mojo back in January after finishing 2018 with its worst December since 1931.
Stocks finished higher Thursday, closing out the month with the best gain for the S&P 500 index since October 2015.
A series of strong corporate earnings helped power the monthlong rally, which followed a dismal December that nearly brought the benchmark index into a bear market, meaning a decline of 20 percent from a recent peak.
Facebook helped drive the market higher on Thursday after reporting solid user metrics. Charter Communications soared after its revenue came in ahead of forecasts. General Electric also climbed. Amazon reported earnings after the close of regular trading that topped Wall Street’s forecasts.
Home builders surged following new data showing sales of new U. S. homes soared in November.
Strong results and outlooks from big U. S. companies seem to be calming some of the fears investors had that a recession might be looming.
“Overall, we’re still encouraged that this earning season is comforting to people,” said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial.
