S&P 500 index closes at record after drop in consumer confidence

17/05/2015 00:40 AST

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed at record for a second straight day, as investors speculated the Federal Reserve would continue to support economic growth after data showed an unexpected drop in consumer confidence and weak factory output.

Netflix Inc. added 4.5 per cent after people familiar with the matter said the company is in partnership talks with a Chinese media firm. Pepco Holdings Inc. and Exelon Corp. surged after Maryland regulators approved their merger. Keurig Green Mountain Inc. lost 8.6 per cent, and bank shares capped their biggest retreat in a month.

The S&P500 rose 0.1 per cent to 2,122.70 at 4pm in New York. The gauge added 0.3 per cent this week for its first back- to-back weekly gain in more than a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 20.32 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 18,272.56. About 5.7 billion shares traded hands Friday, 11 per cent below the three-month average.

“The data plays into the renewed concern that economy in the second quarter will move at a glacial place, renewing hope that the Fed won’t move aggressively in 2015,” said Chad Morganlander, a money manager at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., which oversees about $170 billion. “The market is listless today and you had a big move yesterday that took everybody by surprise on the back of economic data.”

Consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in May by the most in more than two years, as the University of Michigan preliminary index of sentiment dropped to the lowest since October.

Bloomberg