U.S. stocks rose again on Friday as the market's rally to records carried on amid strong earnings from blue-chip companies as well as solid data signaling a snapback in the economy.
 | FRI, APR 16, 2021 | | | | DOW | | NAME | LAST | CHG | %CHG | | AAPL | 134.16 | -0.34 | -0.25% | | CSCO | 52.80 | +1.16 | +2.25% | | INTC | 64.75 | -0.27 | -0.42% | |
| | S&P 500 | | NAME | LAST | CHG | %CHG | | AAPL | 134.16 | -0.34 | -0.25% | | BAC | 39.15 | +0.41 | +1.06% | | WFC | 43.84 | +1.60 | +3.79% | |
| | NASDAQ | | NAME | LAST | CHG | %CHG | | AAPL | 134.16 | -0.34 | -0.25% | | AMD | 82.15 | -0.86 | -1.04% | | CSCO | 52.80 | +1.16 | +2.25% | |
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Robust corporate profit reports helped fuel another strong week on Wall Street, as big banks led what is likely to be a stellar earnings season. Major indexes finished the week up solidly, with all three up more than 1%.
With 9% of the S&P 500 reporting earnings so far, some 81% of companies have beaten Wall Street estimates, according to John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet. Moreover, the earnings growth rate so far is 30.2%. If that holds up, it would mark the best reporting period since the third quarter of 2010.
 Big banks led the profit parade. A sharp decline in the amount they had to put aside for loan losses as compared to a year ago helped fuel the bottom line for the largest institutions.
Along with the solid profit outlook came a raft of powerful economic data points. Retail sales jumped nearly 10% in March, while jobless claims last week fell to the lowest level since just after the Covid-19 crisis began.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC that both the market and the economy could count on continued policy support from the central bank. "There's no reason to be pulling the plug on our support till we're really through this," Waller told CNBC's Steve Liesman.
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