Dow industrials and S&P 500 knocking out a sixth week of record-clearing gains

STI SIANZ!!!

 

 

U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the Dow industrials and S&P 500 knocking out a sixth week of record-clearing gains, as investors embraced the notion of continued stimulus from the Federal Reserve.

	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Jones Industrial Average	15961.70		85.48	0.54%
S&P 500	S&P 500 Index	1798.18		7.56	0.42%
NASDAQ	Nasdaq Composite Index	3985.97		13.23	0.33%

"The stock market has a lot of momentum here; one reason is we're getting closer and closer to year end, and people don't want to take any gains because they have to pay taxes early next year," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at RW Baird & Co. "The economy is doing better in some areas, yet the Fed is not showing any inclination towards cutting quantitative easing," he added.
 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at a record, as did the S&P 500, both for a third consecutive day.
The Dow climbed to an intraday record of 15,962.98, and finished the session at a all-time close of 15,961.70, up 85.48 points, or 0.5 percent for the session and 1.3 percent from last Friday. Exxon Mobil led blue-chip gains after Berkshire Hathaway reported holding a roughly $3.7 billion stake in the oil company.
 
Energy and materials led broad gains that included all 10 of its major industry groups on the S&P 500, which rose 7.56 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,798.18, after rising to an intraday record 1,798.23. It finished with a 1.6 percent weekly gain.
 

—By CNBC's Kate Gibson