Saturday 27 July 2019 9:45 am

Alphabet, Twitter and Starbucks send Wall Street to record highs

Traders work after the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on July 16, 2019, in New York City. – Wall Street stocks edged down from records early Tuesday following mixed banking earnings and worrisome manufacturing data contrasted with strong US retail sales. Shares of JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank by assets, were slightly negative despite reporting record quarterly earnings as investors focused on the bank’s lowered forecast for net interest income in anticipation of Federal Reserve moves to cut interest rates. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

Two of the main indexes in the US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, ended Friday on record highs after significant gains from the likes of Alphabet and Starbucks.

It came on the back of data that showed US economic growth had slowed less than expected in the second quarter.

The US Commerce Department said GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.1 per cent, higher than the 1.8 per cent rate that economists had forecast.

It has also further strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates at a policy meeting next week, helping to power a strong run in stocks as Wall Street hit record levels.

So far around 75 per cent of the 218 companies on the S&P 500 that have published results have topped profit estimates.

Starbucks’ share price hit a record high with a 9 per cent increase after it posted its biggest same-store sales growth in three years.

Alphabet soared by 10.2 per cent after beating targets on higher ad sales and cloud unit growth.

Twitter also rose by 9.1 per cent after its better-than-expected quarterly revenue and increase in daily users.

Together it helped to push the S&P 500 communication services index up 3.2 per cent, the most among S&P sectors.

In other stocks, McDonald’s increased 2.1 per cent to hit a record high after beating sales expectations, while Amazon fell 1.7 per cent after its first profit miss in two years.

In total the S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 100 new highs and 65 new lows.