Stocks rose Friday with all three Wall Street benchmarks reaching new record closing highs as they overcame previous concerns about the economy's recovery earlier in the week. The Dow closed above 35,000 for the first time ever, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose over 1%.
All three major averages closed the week in the green, rebounding from last week's losses and Monday's steep sell-off, which saw the Dow Jones plunging more than 700 points. The Nasdaq was that week's stand-out, rising by 2.8%, while the S&P 500 was up 2% and the Dow gained by 1%.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Alphabet launches new robotics software venture Intrinsic:
Alphabet
Intrinsic is developing software tools to make industrial robots easier to use, cheaper and more flexible to expand their consumer reach. CEO Wendy Tan-White wrote in a blog post that the company "is working to unlock the creative and economic potential of industrial robotics for millions more businesses, entrepreneurs, and developers."
Intrinsic will operate within Alphabet's "Other Bets" segment.
July PMI grows at moderate pace:
U.S. business activity grew at a modest pace for the second straight month in July, according to IHS Markit's Flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index report released Friday, suggesting that economic growth is cooling down.
July's Flash PMI, which tracks the manufacturing and services sector, declined to a four-month low of 59.7 from 63.7 in June. Reading above the neutral level of 50 indicate expansion.
"The provisional PMI data for July point to the pace of economic growth slowing for a second successive month, though importantly this cooling has followed an unprecedented growth spurt in May. Some moderation of service sector growth in particular was always on the cards after the initial reopening of the economy, and importantly we're now seeing nicely-balanced strong growth across both manufacturing and services," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, in a press statement.
"While the second quarter may therefore represent a peaking in the pace of economic growth according to the PMI, the third quarter is still looking encouragingly strong."
Here's how the market started trading after opening bell:
S&P 500 Index: +0.45% or +19.62 points to 4,387.10
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.62% or +214.67 points to 35,038.02
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.10% or +14.56 points to 14,699.16
