New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange continued its momentum and rose sharply on Friday, the Dow Jones crossing the 35,000 point mark, after better than expected retail sales in the United States.

Around 4:15 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones index advanced 1.01%, crossing 35,000 points for the first time in six weeks.

The Nasdaq rose 0.35%.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.73%.

The day before, driven by good banking results, the Dow Jones index had gained 1.56% to 34,912.56 points, posting one of its best sessions since July.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, had advanced 1.73% to 14,823.43 points, its best score since May, while the S&P 500 rose 1.71% to 4,438.26 points.

"And as if by magic, inflation is no longer a problem, the news on corporate earnings is excellent and the sky is clearing for the stock market!", Quipped Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

"It may be oversimplifying the situation but the mood of the market has clearly changed in recent days," noted the analyst.

"The market continues to applaud the good results of mostly companies and optimistic economic data," said Schwab analysts.

Ahead of the opening bell, the US Department of Commerce released retail sales for September which showed an unexpectedly strong 0.7% month-on-month rise from an expected 0.3% decline.

Price increases, especially of energy, also weigh in this increase in retail sales in value, tempered Patrick O'Hare: "the increase in sales is undoubtedly favored by inflation", he summarized .

But "overall it must be recognized that this general increase in sales reflects a rebound after the restrictions linked to the Delta variant but also price increases, which are a by-product of constraints in the supply chain and higher transport costs. ", added the Briefing expert.

Consumer confidence, however, according to the University of Michigan indicator, came out less solid than expected for early October at 71.4 against 73.5 expected and 72.8 in September.

The survey attributes this bout of weakness to the debt ceiling debate in Congress, which has undermined public confidence.

Markets also ignored the slowdown in manufacturing activity in the New York area.

The New York Federal Reserve's Empire State index lost 14.5 points to 19.8 points, a lower level than expected.

Manufacturers, however, remain confident in the future.

- Tourism values ​​on the rise -

For the quarterly results, while the banks opened the ball successfully Thursday, Goldman Sachs posted a jump of its profit of 63% thanks to the strong activity of its bankers around mergers and acquisitions or fundraising.

The bank posted a total net profit of $ 5.28 billion for the bank's turnover of $ 13.61 billion, up 26%.

The title climbed 1.68% to 397 dollars.

After their sharp rise the day before following better than expected results, bank stocks continued to advance like Wells Fargo (+ 3.44% to 46.87 dollars) or Citigroup (+ 2.77% to 72.76 dollars ).

The title of the anti-Covid vaccine manufacturer Moderna, which has almost tripled since the start of the year, climbed 1.31% to 41.76 dollars after a good analyst rating and after obtaining a favorable opinion for the injection of a booster dose of his vaccine.

Shares in the tourism sector surged after the White House announced a November 8 lifting date for international travel restrictions for those vaccinated.

TripAdvisor sites climbed 3.54% to $ 38.65 and Expedia's 2.41% to $ 173.

The Hilton and Marriott hotel groups grew by more than 2%.

The yield on Treasury bills rose to 1.56% after having concluded at 1.51% the day before.

© 2021 AFP