During the previous week, indices on the leading global platforms continued to grow, while the current rally has lasted for more than a month. At the closing of trading on Friday, 17 August, the S&P 500 (US) Index fell short of just one point to update the maximum value since year start, while quotations of Apple Inc. on that day reached a historical maximum, pushing capitalization of the most expensive company across the world to USD 602.3 billion. The main factor supporting optimistic expectations of stock market traders over the previous week was economic statistical data from the US.

On Tuesday, 14 August, it became known that retail sales in the US grew 0.8% in July after declining for the three previous months. On Wednesday, good news was data on industrial production and capacity utilization in the US, which showed a positive dynamic compared to the previous month and turned out to be higher that analysts expected. Several indicators of the real estate market published on Thursday showed mixed trends, but were taken positively by the market. The Index of US Leading Indicators and the Consumer Confidence Sentiment Index published on Friday were a pleasant surprise, as their values also went beyond expectations.

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