A Retail Sales Streak Gives the Dow a Lift

Index rises 112, but the S&P is flat
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 16, 2020 3:05 PM CDT
A Retail Sales Streak Gives the Dow a Lift
Passers-by examine a storefront window in September Boston's fashionable Newbury Street shopping district.   (Associated Press)

The Dow snapped its losing streak Friday thanks in part to stronger-than-expected retail sales numbers. The index rose 112 points to 28,606, while two other major indexes didn't fare as well. The S&P 500 ticked up less than a point to 3,483 and the Nasdaq dropped 42 points to 11,671. The mixed day came after the Commerce Department said retail sales rose 1.9% in September, the fifth consecutive month of increases, reports the AP. The figure beat expectations and helped temper Thursday's worse-than-expected jobless data.

"The economy’s been holding up very well, considering everything that’s gone on," Neil Hennessy of Hennessy Funds tells the Wall Street Journal. "There’s a lot that’s really going on that’s good, and it’s just going to get better as we start to open up this economy." Still, the optimism is balanced with the usual caveats about the coronavirus. On Friday, the US reached 8 million total cases, and a number of states have seen record daily increases this week. (More stock market stories.)

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