"A strong Germany helps the euro massively, and helps other assets too"
- Neil Jones, head of European hedge-fund sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd.
U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday while German investor confidence unexpectedly improved and blue chip companies from General Electrics to Microsoft reported better than expected earnings.
The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 0.12%, or 1.61 points, to 1,378.53. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 0.50%, or 65.16 points, to 13,029.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.24%, or 7.11 points, to 3,000.45.
"A strong Germany helps the euro massively, and helps other assets too," said Neil Jones, head of European hedge-fund sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. in London.
"The Ifo is a confidence measure, it's a straight correlation with assets. The level of confidence is the most important factor behind markets."
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