S&P 500, Dow hit record highs on bank earnings boost – Reuters

S&P 500, Dow hit record highs on bank earnings boost – Reuters

People are seen on Wall St. outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File PhotoThe S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs on Friday after Morgan Stanley wrapped up quarterly earnings reports from the big U.S. banks with a profit surge, while optimism about a solid economic rebound put the main indexes on course for weekly gains.Nine of the 11 S&P indexes were trading higher, with only the communication services (.SPLRCL) and information technology (.SPLRCT) indexes edging lower after outperforming in the previous session.Wall Street's three main indexes have bounced this month as upbeat economic data, a solid start to the first-quarter corporate earnings season and the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates low despite higher inflation boosted demand, particularly for richly valued technology stocks.Morgan Stanley (MS.N) reported a 150% jump in quarterly profit on Friday, joining JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) in reinforcing hopes of a swift economic recovery.Still, the investment bank's shares fell 1.2% as it also disclosed an almost $1 billion loss from the collapse of private fund Archegos. read more Shares of JPMorgan,