[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Apple showed a strong surge of 10% in the New York stock market. Major indices also closed higher across the board.
On the 31st (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.44% (115.09 points) to close at 26,428.74, the S&P 500 index increased 0.77% (24.90 points) to 3,271.12, and the Nasdaq index climbed 1.49% (157.46 points) to finish at 10,745.27.
Apple's rise stood out prominently. This was the effect of better-than-expected earnings released after the previous day's market close. Apple's stock price surged 10.5% to close at $425.04, marking an all-time high. Facebook also showed a strong gain of over 8%. Amazon's stock price rose about 3%. Alphabet, Google's parent company, which reported disappointing earnings, saw a decline of over 3%.
Kodak, which had surged on hopes of transforming into a pharmaceutical company, fell nearly 30%, declining for the second consecutive day.
The $600 per week expanded unemployment benefits ended on this day, but political disputes in the U.S. continue. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows criticized the Democrats for rejecting all four proposals.
Economic indicators remained weak. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for July fell to 72.5 from 78.1 in the previous month. It also missed the Dow Jones forecast of 72.7.
International gold prices soared again to an all-time high. December delivery gold rose 1% ($19.10) per ounce from the previous day to close at $1,985.90. The monthly increase in gold for July reached 10.3%, the highest monthly gain since February 2016.
September delivery West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed at $40.27 per barrel, up 0.9% ($0.35) from the previous day.
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