Wall Street starts mixed but Dow hits fresh highs

The main indices on Wall Street got off to a mixed start on Friday, however recent strong economic data and a positive start to earnings season pushed the Dow to fresh highs in early trading. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.49% at 34,208, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.23% to 4,180. The Nasdaq was the negative outlier, falling 0.15% to 14,017. Market sentiment is likely to have been helped by earnings from Morgan Stanley, which reported record first quarter profits that more than doubled year-on-year. 7:35am: Wall Street heads for mixed start Wall Street is headed for a mixed open on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 called higher while the Nasdaq is expected to shed a few points. According to analysts, the blowout US data on Thursday has improved the “risk-on” sentiment. US retail sales came well above forecast, up 9.8% month-on-month, while jobless claims fell 168,000 instead of 44,000 as expected, though US Treasury yields fell 0.56%. “Was it in continued reaction to the dovish comments from Fed Chair Powell and Vice Chair Clarida on Wednesday?,” said Marshall Gittler, Head of Investment Research at BDSwiss. “Or the renewed demand from Japanese investors with the start of the new fiscal year, as I mentioned in yesterday’s comment? Plus earnings were generally good and forecasts revised up. The combination took US stocks higher to a new record high on the S&P 500 (but not yet on the NASDAQ, although it’s close).” Four things to watch for on Friday: Earnings reports on Friday will include banking giant Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), PNC Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:PNC) and railway investment group Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) will also be in focus following its investment in San Francisco-based self-driving vehicle group Cruise Bitcoin is back in the headlines after plans by Turkey to ban crypto payments sent its value lower this morning On the macro front, Michigan consumer sentiment data will be a key point in the diary as well as housing and building permit data for March