Bulls return to the markets

Bulls return to the markets

US markets ended the week higher on Friday with the Dow reclaiming its perch above the 25,000 level and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched to a record close, driven by a wave of solid corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.52 points, or 0.4%, to 25,019.41, the Nasdaq Composite Index added 2.06 points, or less than 0.1%, to 7,825.98, and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.11% gained 3.02 points, or 0.1%, to 2,801.31, representing the first finish above the round-number level at 2,800 since the 1st of February.

European stocks also ended slightly higher, extending their weekly gains as investors ignored the ongoing trade spat between Washington and Beijing and looked ahead to the earnings season that kicked off in earnest on Friday. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended 0.2% higher at 385.03 and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index UKX, +0.18% rose 0.1% to 7,661.87. Germany’s DAX 30 index tacked on 0.4% to close at 12,540.73.

The Week Ahead

US President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, under pressure to confront his counterpart over Kremlin meddling in the 2016 election and with concerns rising about the U.S., under Trump’s direction, abandoning NATO, the current international order. The highly anticipated event will include 90 minutes in which the former property developer and the former KGB agent meet one-on-one, with only their respective translators in attendance.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is poised to take another step in the slow exit of Lloyd Blankfein, its longstanding chief executive officer as the investment bank plans to name his successor early this week. The group expects to name company President, David Solomon, whom Blankfien has publicly referred to as his successor, as its next CEO. Blankfein’s looming departure marks the end of an era on Wall Street, which has seen him and fellow New Yorker Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, dominate the banking landscape.

British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson will unveil a full-size model of the U.K.’s new fighter jet at the Farnborough International Airshow Monday in a bid to show the nation wants to remain a so-called Tier One military power after Brexit. The plane — nicknamed the Tempest after the team working on the plans — is a joint venture with British aerospace companies BAE Systems Plc, Rolls Royce Holdings Plc, MBDA UK Ltd and Anglo-Italian firm Leonardo SpA.