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

U.S. stock-index futures were mixed on Friday, as investors digested fourth-quarter earnings from financial heavyweights JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC), while Facebook (FB) saw selling pressure amid concerns that recent updates to its news feed will cause users to spend less time on the site.

Global Stocks:

Nikkei 23,653.82 -56.61 -0.24%

Hang Seng 31,412.54 +292.15 +0.94%

Shanghai 3,429.32 +3.97 +0.12%

S&P/ASX 6,070.10 +2.50 +0.04%

FTSE 7,773.23 +10.29 +0.13%

CAC 5,503.06 +14.51 +0.26%

DAX 13,185.87 -17.03 -0.13%

Crude $63.26 (-0.85%)

Gold $1,326.90 (+0.33%)

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Apple (AAPL) target raised to $204 from $193 at Maxim Group

Twitter (TWTR) target raised to $30 from $25 at BTIG Research

Visa (V) target raised to $136 from $124 at Citigroup

Alphabet (GOOG) target raised to $1300 from $1150 at Piper Jaffray

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) target raised to $160 from $155 at Wells Fargo

Microsoft (MSFT) target raised to $100 from $90 at Wells Fargo

Amazon (AMZN) target raised to $1400 from $1270 at SunTrust

Caterpillar (CAT) target raised to $189 from $158 at BofA/Merrill Boeing (BA) target raised to $375 from $310 at Credit Suisse UnitedHealth (UNH) target raised to $255 from $235 at Evercore ISI Home Depot (HD) target raised to $227 from $200 at Deutsche Bank

American Express (AXP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan

Coca-Cola (KO) upgraded to Outperform from In-line at Evercore ISI

Wells Fargo (WFC) reported Q4 FY 2017 earnings of $1.16 per share (versus $0.96 in Q4 FY 2016), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $1.03.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $22.050 bln (+2.2% y/y), missing analysts' consensus estimate of $22.638 bln.

WFC fell to $62.24 (-1.22%) in pre-market trading.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported Q4 FY 2017 earnings of $1.76 per share (versus $1.71 in Q4 FY 2016), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $1.69.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $24.153 bln (+3.3% y/y), missing analysts' consensus estimate of $24.873 bln.

JPM fell to $110.36 (-0.43%) in pre-market trading.

Nikkei 225 is reaching new highs!

If we look on daily time frame chart we can see that the price has already broken a consolidation zone.

Also, we can see that the price is forming an upside trend line.

Therefore, our bias is long if the price remains above the trend line.

European stocks finished at their lowest in a week Thursday, as investors considered a signal from the European Central Bank that it's positioning for a more hawkish view on monetary policy. Retailers, meanwhile, struggled after the release of disappointing financial updates from the sector that included the key Christmas shopping period.

U.S. stock benchmarks resumed their climb to close at records on Thursday, a day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq suffered the first down day of the year on anxieties about appetite for Treasurys from the world's second-largest economy, China.

Asian stocks resumed their ascent on Friday, supported by US earnings optimism and a rise in oil prices while the euro edged higher as the European Central Bank signalled an end to its massive stimulus.

(index / closing price / change items /% change)

Nikkei -77.77 23710.43 -0.33%

TOPIX -4.02 1888.09 -0.21%

Hang Seng +46.67 31120.39 +0.15%

CSI 300 -2.22 4205.59 -0.05%

Euro Stoxx 50 -14.59 3595.24 -0.40%

FTSE 100 +14.43 7762.94 +0.19%

DAX -78.44 13202.90 -0.59%

CAC 40 -16.13 5488.55 -0.29%

DJIA +205.60 25574.73 +0.81%

S&P 500 +19.33 2767.56 +0.70%

NASDAQ +58.21 7211.78 +0.81%

S&P/TSX +38.99 16286.94 +0.24%