US stock indices surged on Friday, following better-than-expected financial results and promising forecasts from tech behemoths Apple and Amazon.
Apple’s earnings comfortably surpassed expectations, driven by strong consumer appetite for its AI-powered products, while Amazon’s cloud services division saw its fastest growth in three years, signalling a robust trading quarter ahead.
At 12:01 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.46 points, or 0.07%, to 47,490.66, the S&P 500 gained 15.34 points, or 0.22%, to 6,837.68 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 152.31 points, or 0.65%, to 23,733.45.
As of 10 AM Eastern Time, the S&P 500 rose 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9% higher.
At 09:30 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64.86 points, or 0.13%, to 47,586.98, the S&P 500 gained 50.31 points, or 0.74%, to 6,872.65 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 356.45 points, or 1.51%, to 23,932.36.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.07% from 4.11% late on Thursday.
Gainers and Losers
Amazon stock jumped about 12% after reporting a 40% rise in profits to $21.2 billion, powered by surging demand for its cloud computing services.
Apple stock was swinging between modest gains and losses. The iPhone maker delivered a better profit than analysts expected. Its stock was down 0.2%.
Netflix shares climbed 3.2% after the streaming company announced a ten-for-one stock split.
Shares of Microsoft and Meta Platforms dropped 1.3% and 0.9%, respectively.
Reddit stock soared 15.2% after the online message board reported stronger profit and revenue for the third quarter than Wall Street expected.
Coinbase Global shares gained 6% after the crypto exchange’s quarterly profit topped expectations.
Bullion Market
Gold prices retreated on Friday on uncertainty over another Federal Reserve rate cut in December.
Spot gold was down 0.4% at $4,009.24 per ounce at 1147 GMT. US gold futures for December delivery were up 0.1% at $4,020.80 per ounce.
In other metals, spot silver rose 0.2% to $49.02 per ounce, platinum lost 0.9% to $1,596.60, and palladium gained 1.1% at $1,460.95.
Crude Oil
Oil prices rose on Friday, though they were still on course for a third consecutive monthly decline, driven by the combined pressure of a stronger US dollar, lacklustre economic data from China, and rising supply from major global producers.
Brent crude futures gained 29 cents, or 0.5%, to stand at $65.29 a barrel by 1303 GMT, whilst US West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $61.10 a barrel, a rise of 53 cents, or 0.9%.
