# Dow, S&P 500 seen inching to new records as investors parse earnings from Morgan Stanley, PNC

How are benchmarks trading?

• Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
  YM00,
  +0.13%

  YMM21,
  +0.13%
  rose 51 points to reach 33,974, a gain of 0.2%.
• S&P 500 index futures
  ES00,
  +0.10%

  ESM21,
  +0.10%
  climbed 3.10 points, or less than 0.1%, at 4,165.50.

• Nasdaq-100 futures
  NQ00,
  +0.05%

  NQM21,
  +0.05%
  declined 12.75 points, or 0.1%, to 14,000.50.

READ: With close above 34,000, the Dow has already cleared four thousand-point mile markers in 2021

On Thursday, the Dow
DJIA,
+0.90%
gained 305.10 points, or 0.9%, to finish at 34,035.99, setting a new closing record and an intraday all-time high earlier in the session. The S&P 500
SPX,
+1.11%
added 45.76 points to reach 4,170.42, a gain of 1.1%, booking a record, while the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
+1.31%
advanced 180.92 points, or 1.3%, to 14,038.76, ending 0.4% from its Feb. 12 closing record.

For the week, the Dow is up 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are looking at a weekly gain of 1%, as of Thursday’s close. The Dow and S&P 500 are aiming for a fourth straight weekly advance, while the Nasdaq is set for a third.

What’s driving the market?

With the recovery from the COVID pandemic on display in this week’s U.S. economic data, including retail sales and weekly jobless benefit claims, reflecting the massive fiscal stimulus from Washington and the vaccine rollout, investors are pushing the major stock indexes to new heights.

Earnings also have helped to support optimism about the recovery, as the nation’s biggest banks, Goldman Sachs Group
GS,
+0.95%
and JPMorgan Chase & Co
JPM,
+0.63%,
produced results that are promising for the American economic outlook.

Hope for further improvement comes as China’s economic growth surged by 18.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, with retail sales up 34.2% in the world’s second largest economy.

“Although the year-on-year comparisons are skewed considering that China was in lockdown this time last year, it still confirms that the world’s second largest economy is making meaningful strides in the post-pandemic era,” wrote Han Tan, market analyst at FXTM.

“Hopes of a broad-based U.S. recovery have been fueled by yesterday’s economic releases, featuring the lowest weekly jobless claims since March 2020 and the highest monthly gain for industrial production since July,” Tan said.

Tan said that what is “crucial for investor sentiment is that this economic recovery doesn’t show signs of letting up,” including global COVID vaccinations and fiscal and monetary support, which have been supportive to the market and the economy.

That said, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jose, Romero, told Bloomberg that the Johnson & Johnson’s pause in the U.S. could last for several weeks, noting that an advisory committee will review the extremely rare blood-clotting issues that have been the source of its temporary halt on April 23.

Meanwhile, Friday is relatively light on U.S. data but a reading on housing starts and permits for March are due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time and a report on consumer sentiment will be released at 10 a.m.

Which companies are in focus?

• Shares of Bank of New York Mellon Corp. BK were indicated up fractionally in premarket trading Friday, after the bank reported first-quarter profit and revenue that fell from a year ago, given the impact of low interest rates, but topped expectations.

• Eli Lilly and Co. LLY said Friday it is seeking a revocation of the emergency use authorization granted by U.S. regulators for its bamlanivimab antibody treatment for COVID-19 alone to complete the transition to bamlanivimab and etesevimab together.

• Biomea Fusion Inc. BMEA, was set to go public Friday, as the California-based biopharmaceutical company focused on treatment of genetically defined cancers said its upsized initial public offering priced at $17 a share, at the high end of the expected range of between $15 and $17 a share.