S&P 500 rises, heading for year's longest weekly win streak

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks keep ticking higher on Wall Street, and more gains for the S&P 500 Friday morning have it on pace to close out its fifth straight winning week.

The benchmark index was up 0.2% in morning trading, adding to its record. It’s up 2.8% for the week and on track for its longest weekly winning streak since December, before the coronavirus pandemic swept the world and sent economies tumbling into recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 49 points, or 0.2%, at 28.541, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. If it stays above 28,538.44, it would get back to even for 2020 and wipe out an earlier loss of as much as 34.9%. The Nasdaq composite was 0.7% higher.

A report released before trading began showed that U.S. consumer spending grew more in July than economists expected. That’s key because consumer spending is the main driver of the nation’s economy. Consumers increased their spending by 1.9% for the third straight month of gains, though it was a slowdown from June's 6.2% growth.

Income also rose by 0.4% for Americans last month, snapping back from a drop in June.

Ulta Beauty, a company that relies on consumers opening their wallets, jumped 6.1% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after it reported a drop in profit for the latest quarter that wasn’t as bad as Wall Street analysts expected.

Technology stocks were also again helping to pull the market higher. HP rose 7.5% after it reported better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The pandemic means more people are working and learning — and printing documents — from home, which helps sales of all kinds of products for HP.

Stocks are continuing to rise after the Federal Reserve on Thursday unveiled a change in strategy that likely means interest rates...