Market roundup for Oct. 16

SAN JUAN — The U.S. and global stock markets ended the week mixed, even as most rallied during Friday.

Investors are reacting to better than expected corporate earnings, since of the 10% of the public companies in the S&P 500 that reported Q3 results, 86% reported actual Earnings Per Share higher than estimates.

Also, U.S. Retail and Food Services Sales rose to 1.91%, compared to 0.57% last month; this is higher than the long term average of 0.37%. 

Finally, on the Covid-19 front, although Pfizer appears to be leading the way in developing a Covid-19 vaccine for the United States, it says results won’t be ready until mid-November at the earliest. While this is excellent news for the public, it dismisses the presumption of rolling out a vaccine by Election Day, as President Trump had declared.

 On to markets.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 28,606.31, up 112.11 points, or 0.39%.
• The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed at 3,483.81, up 0.47 points, or 0.01%.
• The NASDAQ Composite Index closed at 11,671.56, down 42.31 points, or 0.36%
• The Birling Capital Puerto Rico Stock Index closed at 1,657.87, up 21.56 points, or 1.32
• The U.S. Treasury 10-year note closed at 0.76%.
• The U.S. Treasury 2-year note closed at 0.14%.