On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and the Dow ended at record highs yesterday, with big boosts from financial stocks after banks reported strong quarterly results, while the latest inflation data fueled expectations for a US Federal Reserve rate cut in November.

Major financial companies kicked off earnings season with JPMorgan Chase reporting higher-than-expected third-quarter profit and raising its annual interest income forecast.

Wells Fargo also beat analysts’ expectations. Also, BlackRock reported that its assets under management had hit a record high for the third straight quarter.

So, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 410 points, or nearly 1 per cent, to close the week at 42,864. The S&P 500 rose 35 points, or 0.6 percent, to end at 5,815. And the Nasdaq Composite gained 61 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 18,343.

Earlier in the day, data from the US Department of Labor showed the Producer Price Index for final demand was unchanged on a monthly basis in September, compared to the 0.1% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters.