
The Dow rose 182.52 points (1.12%) on the day to end the week at 16,550.79, a 0.4% increase for the week. That is still well below the 17,000 barrier it had reached last month, and still slightly lower than where it stood at the beginning of the year.
The S&P 500 gained 21.84 points (1.14%) to end the week at 1,931.41. That was a 0.3% increase for the week, and the best one-day performance since earlier this year. While the S&P 500 had been flirting with the 2,000 point barrier earlier in July, it still has a ways to go before flirting with that milestone again. The S&P 500 remains in positive territory for the year, up over 4%.
The NASDAQ composite increased 36.02 points on Friday (0.83%) to end the week at 4,370.99. That was a 0.4% rise for the entire week for the composite. The NASDAQ, like the S&P 500, remains in positive territory of more than 4% for the year.
The markets seemed to rise on the fact there was positive news out of Russia of easing tensions on the Ukraine border. While the US did say they would, then actually did, carry out new air strikes in Iraq, the announcement seemed to clarify the US stance in the area, and didn’t spook traders into selling.
The big winner of the day was Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, which saw its stock price surge by just over 45% to $20.70 a share. The large increase came on news that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had cleared the company’s experimental Ebola treatment in humans as part of the current Ebola outbreak crisis management. With nearly 30 million (28.4 million) shares traded on the news, Friday ended up being the busiest trading day for the stock in the company’s history.
Both utilities and energy shares in the S&P 500 sectors also did well on the day. The utility sector secured a 2% gain for the day, while energy secured nearly as much, with a 1.7% increase.
(Photo courtesy of Emilio Labrador)