Corporate earnings helped push the S&P 500 higher for the third week in a row ticking off another all-time high on Thursday.
On earnings, roughly 23% of the companies in the S&P 500 have now reported, and the results have continued the early Q3 trend of an above-average amount companies beating estimates and beating them by a larger margin. So far, 84% of companies have beat estimates and the results have come in roughly 13% above estimates.
With COVID cases falling, the service sector appears to be bouncing back. Markit’s survey of purchasing managers (PMI) showed service sector conditions expanded in October by the most in three months, rising to 58.2, from 54.9 (readings over 50 indicate expansion). However, manufacturing fell to a seven-month low, though still staying solidly in expansionary territory. The cooling in manufacturing was largely attributed to supply chain and labor issues.