On the 17th (local time), the New York Stock Exchange closed higher, buoyed by the recovery in U.S. consumer indicators and strong performance from major corporations. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index and the Nasdaq index surpassed their all-time highs for the first time in two days.

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). /Courtesy of Reuters=Yonhap News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) closed up 229.71 points (0.52%) at 44,484.49. The S&P 500 index rose 33.66 points (0.54%) to 6,297.36, while the Nasdaq index climbed 153.78 points (0.73%) to end at 20,884.27.

On that day, the stock market gained momentum as the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that June retail sales figures significantly exceeded market expectations. June retail sales recorded $720.1 billion, up 0.6% from the previous month, sharply surpassing the market forecast of 0.1%. In the previous month, there had been a 0.9% decrease.

Core retail sales, excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials, and food services, also increased by 0.5% from the previous month, confirming consumer resilience.

Brett Kenwell, an investment analyst at eToro, noted, "The strong consumer indicators released alongside the corporate earnings season increased market relief," and added, "If consumer expenditure continues on an optimistic trajectory, the upward trend will remain valid even after hitting record highs." Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, also assessed that "Consumption remains robust, and there is currently no need for stimulus measures such as interest rate cuts."

Corporate performance also supported the rise in the stock market. United Airlines' stock rose by 3% due to better-than-expected earnings, while PepsiCo's stock surged by 7% driven by strong second-quarter results. According to FactSet, about 50 S&P 500 corporations are set to announce their earnings this week, with 88% of them exceeding market expectations.

Netflix also announced its second-quarter results after the market closed, reporting revenue of $11.08 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $7.19, both slightly exceeding market expectations. However, the lack of significant differentiation in results compared to expectations led to a decline of about 1% in after-hours transactions.

By sector, all industries rose except for healthcare and real estate. Major tech stocks like NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Broadcom hit all-time highs, while Palantir also rose by 2%, setting a new peak. Lucid Group's stock surged by 36% following news of a partnership with Uber for robo-taxis.

Employment indicators also showed a strong performance. The number of new unemployment claims last week was tallied at 221,000, marking the lowest level in three months with a five-week consecutive decline. This figure was below market expectations of 235,000.

With the strength of consumption and employment indicators, expectations for interest rate cuts have slightly receded. According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch, the likelihood that the federal funds rate will be cut by 75 basis points by December dropped from 22.6% to 18.5% the following day. Instead, the probability of a 25 basis point cut has increased by 4 percentage points to 31.6%.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (VIX), often referred to as the market's fear gauge, recorded a decline of 0.64 points (3.73%) to 16.52.

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