Morning Report 18 Oct 21: US stocks bolstered by better corporate and economic news

US sharemarkets advanced on Friday. Shares in Goldman Sachs rose 3.8% in response to a strong earnings result. Shares in Alcoa rose 15.2% after the aluminium producer announced a US$500 million buyback and said it would pay a dividend. In US economic data, retail sales rose by 0.7% in September compared to expectations of a 0.2% fall. The Dow Jones index rose by 382 points or 1.1%. The S&P 500 index gained 0.8%. And the Nasdaq index added 74 points or 0.5%. Over the week the Dow rose 1.6%; S&P 500 rose 1.8% and the Nasdaq lifted 2.2%.

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