A surge in trading on Wall Street is poised to continue on Friday after two of top equity benchmarks closed with record highs.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed above 27,000 for the first time on Thursday, was trending towards an increase of 85 points at the open. The S&P 500, which also previously closed at record levels, was up slightly in futures trading, while the Nasdaq is expected to open up 24 points.
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Investors continue to remain optimistic that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at the end of July after Chairman Jerome Powell signaled as much during two-days of hearings on Capitol Hill.
“The markets are responding to Powell actually confirming what the futures markets were already telling us,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab & Co.
Meanwhile, shares for top pharmacy benefit managers, like CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group Inc., are expected to continue to increase after the Trump administration abandoned an effort to eliminate the drug rebates that flow from drugmakers to the middlemen price negotiators.
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| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | %Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVS | CVS HEALTH CORPORATION | 57.97 | +2.59 | +4.68% |
| CI | CIGNA CORPORATION | 175.34 | +14.83 | +9.24% |
| UNH | UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INCORPORATED | 261.16 | +13.68 | +5.53% |
Second-quarter earnings seasons kicks off in earnest next week with top banks like JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo reporting results for the three months through June.
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On Thursday, Delta Air Lines reported better-than-expected profits fueled by higher sales of premium ticketing, the first airline to report earnings amid the grounding of the Boeing Max jet. The Atlanta-based carrier, however, does not have of the planes in its fleet.
