- Wall Street’s main indexes started the day in the positive territory.
- Data from US showed Retail Sales in September rose sharply.
- Falling crude oil prices weigh on energy stocks on Friday.
Major equity indexes in the US opened the last day of the week modestly higher as investors assess the latest macroeconomic data releases. As of writing, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% on the day at 3,497, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was gaining 0.57% at 28,656 and the Nasdaq Composite was rising 0.59% at 11,968.
Earlier in the day, the US Census Bureau reported that Retail Sales in September rose by 1.9% on a monthly basis, compared to analysts’ estimate for an increase of 0.7%. Boosted by this upbeat data, the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Index is up 0.55%.
On the other hand, the Federal Reserve’s monthly report revealed that Industrial Production in September contracted by 0.6%.
Meanwhile, falling crude oil prices are weighing on energy stocks. The S&P 500 Index is down more than 2% as the worst-performing major sector and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate is losing nearly 2% at $40.10.
S&P 500 chart (daily)
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