S&P 500 sees a seven-day winning streak

It may be fall season, but not for U.S. Stocks – which hit an all-time high last week after the S&P 500 notched a seven-day winning streak, its longest since July.

The climb marked a sharp reversal from just a week ago when the Dow suffered its worst stretch since October after the Fed signalled that it would aim to raise interest rates sooner than previously anticipated.

As economic data have caught up, with areas from consumer spending to housing to the labour market showing sustained improvements, investors have bet that stocks can continue to march higher.

While it is still too early to draw conclusions from corporate earnings results, the third-quarter earnings season is off to a solid start, helping lift sentiment. Equities have gained almost 6% this month, fully recovering from last month’s losses.

Energy shares were among the biggest gainers in the broad market the past week, jumping alongside the price of crude oil.

For the week, the three bellwethers ended the week with synchronised and reasonably significant rises. The Dow moved up 1.08%, the S&P 500 gained an impressive 1.64%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained a respectable 1.29%.