July 21 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Friday as healthcare gains put the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( .DJI ) on track for its tenth straight day of gains, its longest rally in nearly six years.
The blue-chip index was lifted by gains of nearly 1% in UnitedHealth Group ( UNH.N ) and Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ). It’s now up nearly 7% in 2023, compared with the S&P 500’s (.SPX) rise of 19%.
“The catch-up that the Dow is playing shows that there is a cycle in other sectors like health care and financials. The rally is no longer technical,” said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, nine rose, led by Utilities (.SPLRCU) which rose 1.53%, followed by a 1.18% gain in Healthcare (.SPXHC).
Netflix( NFLX.O ) fell 2.1%, its second straight decline this week after the video streaming company’s quarterly results failed to impress.
Analysts attributed Friday’s choppy trading to the expiration of monthly options and an expected special rebalancing of the multi-trillion dollar Nasdaq 100 (.NDX) at the end of trading.
The S&P 500 rose 0.43% to 4,554.17 points.
The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) rose 0.39% to 14,118.21 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.30% to 35,331.60 points.
The Nasdaq has rallied 35% this year thanks to confidence in artificial intelligence, a relatively resilient U.S. economy and expectations that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hike cycle will soon end.
The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its July 25-26 meeting, with investors having mixed views on the central bank’s long-term monetary policy.
American Express ( AXP.N ) fell 3.1% on Friday after the credit card company missed quarterly earnings estimates and affirmed its full-year profit forecast.
SLB ( SLB.N ) fell 2% as the top oilfield services company missed quarterly earnings expectations due to moderate drilling activity in North America.
Shares of toymaker Mattel ( MAT.O ) added 0.4% as the much-anticipated “Barbie” movie hit theaters worldwide.
Within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX), advancing issues outnumbered declining issues by a 2.1-to-one ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 33 new highs and no new lows; The Nasdaq posted 79 new highs and 61 new lows.
Reporting by Noel Randevich in Oakland, Calif.; Additional reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Johan M Cherian in Bangalore; Editing by Shinjini Ganguly and Richard Chang
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