US stocks posted another week of gains on positive economic news and hopes over more fiscal stimulus. The S&P 500 rose 2.5% and the Dow jumped 3.9% for the week. Abroad, the FTSE All World Ex US was down 1.8% for the week. Gold continued to surge ending the week at a new all time high of $2,010. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up over the week to settle at 0.56%.
Employers added 1.8 million jobs in July and the unemployment rate fell to 10.2%, however the economy has 13 million fewer jobs than it did in February.
US manufacturing expanded in July at a faster rate than expected. Surveys in Europe and China also posted strong gains.
Over the past week 1.2 million people filed for initial unemployment insurance, less than expected and the lowest level since the business shutdown began in March.
With more than 75% of S&P 500 companies reporting earnings the majority have beaten estimates.