The U.S. benchmarks on Friday ended higher, fresh records for S&P and Nasdaq

• Fresh records were scored by S&P and Nasdaq.
• DJIA, ended higher by 51.47 points, or 0.2%, at 27,192.45.

Markets traded with an upbeat tone into the weekend with a rebound in North American equities. The U.S. benchmarks on Friday ended higher with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes closing at new highs on the back of strong corporate earnings and better-than-expected growth figures in U.S. Advanced Gross Domestic Product.

Subsequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, DJIA, ended higher by 51.47 points, or 0.2%, at 27,192.45. The S&P 500 index closed up 22.19 points, or 0.7%, at 3,025.86 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 91.67 points, or 1.1%, at 8,330.21. Also worth noting is that the S&P 500 registered a new intraday record at 3,027.98 while Nasdaq scored up a record intraday high at 8,339.64.

The Gross Domestic Product grew at a 2.1% annual pace from the start of April to the end of June although it slowed from a 3.1% gain in the first three months of the year. Meanwhile, despite the better-than-expected GDP data, markets expect that the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by at least a quarter-point when it meets next week, an event that clashes with the U.S. and China trade talks starting on Monday.  

DJIA levels  

The DJIA index snapped the series of lower lows and rose back above recent lows with prospects of the July highs back on the cards. However, to the downside,  26905 remains on the radar  below the 20-day moving average. Below there, the 23.6% retracement of the 3rd June low to 12th July recently printed high falls in at 26706 which meets April 23rd and 1st May double-top highs.