The Standard & Poor’s 500 extended its streak to eight days with yet another all-time high closing tally of 1,682.50, a gain of 0.14 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.13 percent to 15,484.26, and the NASDAQ was up 0.21 percent to 3,607.49.
The Department of Commerce reported retail sales up 0.4 percent for the month of June, well shy of the expected 0.8 percent, but the third straight month of increases. Meanwhile the New York Federal Reserve reported showing manufacturing in the state grew from 7.84 in June to 9.46 in July, well ahead of a reading of 5 that had been the average forecast.
The Chinese economy continued to show signs of slowing down, with economic growth dropping from 7.7 to 7.5 percent in the second quarter. Investors seemed undeterred by this news however, as expectations for the country’s growth had been significantly lower.
Citigroup (C) was one of the day’s biggest winners, up nearly 2 percent to $51.80 after reporting a 26 percent increase in profits for the second quarter.
Boeing (BA), the world’s largest defense contractor, closed the day on an advance of 3.72 percent to $105.66 after a preliminary investigation of a fire that broke out on one of its new 787 Dreamliners last Friday determined that the incident had nothing to do with the plane’s battery overheating. The stock had plummeted after the news was released during Friday trading.
Shares for the small wireless company Leap Wireless (LEAP) more than doubled to close the day at nearly $17 per share after AT&T’s (T) late-Friday announcement that it would be purchasing the firm in a deal worth some $1.2 billion.
