The major US stock index closed the auction with an increase

The main US stock indexes have moderately grown, having updated the record highs. The catalyst for this was the strong quarterly results of JPMorgan and reliable data on retail sales and consumer prices.

The Commerce Ministry said retail sales increased by 0.4% in seasonally adjusted terms in December compared with November. Economists had expected an increase of 0.4%. Retail sales increased by 0.9% in November, and sales growth in October was also revised upward. Sales in the fourth quarter as a whole increased by 5.5% compared to the same period a year earlier. With the exception of cars, often unstable, sales increased by 0.4%; economists were expecting a 0.3% increase. With the exception of cars and gasoline, sales rose 0.4% in December.

A separate report from the Ministry of Labor showed that the consumer price index increased by 0.1% in December, compared to the previous month. This increase was less than the expectations of economists (+ 0.2%). In December, except for the volatile categories of food and energy, prices rose 0.3%, which is the biggest increase in so-called base prices since January 2017. Economists had expected base prices to grow more modestly, by 0.2% compared to November.

Most components of the DOW index finished trading in positive territory (24 out of 30). The leader of growth was the shares of The Boeing Company (BA, + 2.49%). Outsider were shares of General Electric Company (GE, -1.55%).

Most sectors of S & P showed an increase. The services sector grew most (+ 0.9%). The utilities sector showed the greatest decrease (-0.5%).

At closing:

Dow + 0.80% 25.778.80 +204.07

Nasdaq + 0.59% 7,254.01 +42.23

S & P + 0.59% 2.783.83 +16.27