Dow has set its best week since July, with equity futures pushing into record territory

US stock index futures edged higher on Friday, saying Wall Street would extend its recent uptrend and hit record highs.

Where are the main reference markets?

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average

YMU8, + 0.12%

advanced 44 points, or 0.2%, to 26,771. S & P 500 futures

ESU8, + 0.01%

earned 2 points, less than 0.1%, at 2,941.50. Futures Nasdaq-100

NQU8, + 0.01%

increased by 7 points, or 0.1%, to 7,615.75.

The Dow Jones and the S & P 500 were both in the lead on Thursday, the culmination of a long series of regular moves. The S & P 500 has advanced in eight of the last nine sessions, at the close of Thursday, while the Dow has risen in seven of the last eight.

Dow's record was remarkable as he was the first to average blue chips since January. Both S & P and Nasdaq have had many records in recent months, largely due to the outperformance of technology and internet stocks. While Apple fueled the Dow's lead at Thursday's highs, it's a sector where the average has less exposure, a factor that has limited its gains until recently, when industrial stocks began dominate the market.

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For the week, the Dow

DJIA, + 0.95%

is up 1.9% and on track for its biggest weekly gain since July. The sp

SPX, + 0.78%

is up 0.9%. The Dow Jones and the S & P are both on track for their second consecutive weekly gain, as well as their 10th positive week of the last 12. Nasdaq

COMP + 0.98%

is looking for a weekly gain of 0.2%.

What drives the market?

The markets have been progressing for several weeks in a low volatility market. The gains were largely supported by improved economic data, which highlighted strong economic fundamentals, in contrast to other regions, where stocks struggled.

On Thursday, gains came as unemployment insurance claims fell to their lowest level since November 1969, signaling an extremely strong labor market. Separately, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index jumped more than expected in September, while an index of key economic indicators suggested that the US economy could expect economic growth of 3% in the second half of 2018.

On Friday, Markit will release reports on how the manufacturing and services sectors performed in September. Data will be released at 9:45 am ET.

These signs of economic strength were enough for investors to ignore repeated signs of growing tensions between the US and China, among other regions, on trade policy. President Donald Trump has announced nearly $ 500 billion in tariffs on Chinese products this week; China responded with clean measures and said it would introduce more measures if US tariffs came into effect.

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While many investors fear that the trade issue may degenerate into a generalized trade war, they have so far been encouraged by the fact that the issue has not had much impact on economic data or corporate performance. . In addition, some market observers have stated that recent developments have not been as serious as expected, leaving room for optimism.

South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon has expressed optimism over the signing of a revised free trade pact, although Seoul legislators have threatened to block the deal if Washington imposed new tariffs on Korean automobiles and auto parts.

What do market analysts say?

"Although today's generalized force is an encouraging sign, it's just one day and [the Dow] and S & P 500 closed at new historic highs. Nasdaq and Russell 2000, which occupy most of the summer, have to catch up, "said Jeffrey Hirsch, managing director of Hirsch Holdings, and editor of the Stock Trader Almanac. "The four indices closing at new historic highs would be clearly optimistic, especially if they lasted several trading sessions."

What are the targeted stocks?

Micron Technology Inc.

MU, + 2.22%

Thursday night posted strong quarterly results, although they gave prospects below expectations. The results could trigger a greater weakness in the flea market if there is concern that the sector's explosive growth will end.

Adobe Systems Inc.

ADBE + 0.55%

has agreed to buy the marketo software maker from a private equity firm for $ 4.75 billion.

Medtronic PLC

MTD + 1.06%

said that he would buy Mazor Robotics Ltd.

MZOR, + 4.91%

for $ 1.64 billion.

Wells Fargo & Co.

WFC + 0.60%

Last Thursday, he said it would reduce jobs as part of its "ongoing transformation" to respond to industry trends and changes in customer behavior.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a few days after the Trump administration instituted a controversial travel ban in January 2017, Google employees discussed ways to change the company's search functions and government agencies. Google is a unit of Alphabet Inc.

GOOGL, + 1.47%

GOOG, + 1.35%

Where are the other commercial markets?

Asian equities rose, with shares in Shenzhen on track since July and Japan's Nikkei at its highest level since January.

Crude oil price

CLK9, + 0.71%

rose 0.6% while the gold

GCM9, + 0.33%

was down 0.1%. The US dollar index

DXY, + 0.13%

increased by 0.1%.

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