US stocks hits record high on Intel, healthcare jump

US stocks ended on record high on Friday on the latest round of strong earnings reports, including results from Intel and AbbVie, as well as continued weakness in the dollar.

Intel’s shares gained $49.95, the highest level since October 2000, and were last up 9.81 per cent after results indicated that the chipmaker’s shift to higher-margin data-center business was working.

AbbVie’s shares jumped 12.68 per cent to a record after the drug-maker significantly boosted its 2018 earnings forecast, reports Reuters.

Fourth-quarter earnings growth for the S&P 500 is now estimated at 13.2 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters data, up from 12 per cent at the start of the year.

Of the 133 companies in the index that have reported through Friday, 79.7 per cent have topped expectations.

The earnings enabled investors to shrug off a reading on economic growth that came in below expectations.

Gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 per cent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said.

Weakness in the dollar, which is supportive for large multinational companies, continued with the greenback down 0.59 per cent against a basket of major currencies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 118.63 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 26,511.42, the S&P 500 gained 21.33 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 2,860.58 and the Nasdaq Composite added 65.98 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 7,477.15.

Buoyed by AbbVie, the S&P healthcare index gained 1.62 per cent, the best performer among the 11 major S&P sectors and on track for its best day since November 2016.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.03-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.18-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 96 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 141 new highs and 19 new lows.