Abigail Summerville
(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes ended higher on Friday, bouncing back from a previous day’s sell-off as Amazon’s robust earnings offset a significant decline in U.S. job growth in October.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) rose 6.2% after reporting Thursday’s results that showed robust retail sales, pushing profit above Wall Street estimates.
Meanwhile, Apple (NASDAQ:) fell 1.2% as investors worried about the company’s sales in China failing in the last quarter.
Fellow Magnificent Seven members Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) also reported earnings earlier this week and warned about infrastructure costs related to artificial intelligence, which sent the Nasdaq lower on Thursday.
“A new month often seems to bring renewed optimism for investors – especially after yesterday’s sharp decline – and after encouraging results from Apple and Amazon,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
Stock markets pushed back against delicate U.S. nonfarm payrolls data in October, given disruptions from hurricanes and strikes. The data showed an augment of 12,000 jobs, much less than economists’ estimates of an augment of 113,000.
However, the unemployment rate remained stable at 4.1%, which reassured investors that the labor market remained on solid footing.
After the release of employment data, investors largely stuck to assumptions that the central bank would cut interest rates by 25 basis points in November.
“Third quarter results, interest rates and the election will continue to be the main drivers in the near term,” Stovall said.
It rose 288.73 points, or 0.69%, to 42,052.19, gained 23.35 points, or 0.41%, to 5,728.80 and gained 144.77 points, or 0.80%, to 18,239.92.
Overall, all three indexes fell for the week, with the S&P 500 down 1.38%, the Nasdaq down 1.51% and the Dow down 0.16%.
The US elections are in the spotlight of investors, with many analysts predicting a tight presidential race and some uncertainty about the final result. The November Fed meeting starts the next day.
Amazon.com’s gains lifted the Consumer Discretionary Index 2.4% to its highest level in more than two years, while utility and real estate stocks suffered the sector’s biggest declines.
Intel (NASDAQ:) rose 7.8% after a better-than-expected revenue forecast. The chip stock index rose 1%.
Chevron (NYSE:) shares rose 2.8% after the company beat third-quarter earnings estimates amid a surge in oil production.
Declining issues outnumbered issues on the New York Stock Exchange by a ratio of 1.21 to 1. The NYSE recorded 88 fresh highs and 93 fresh lows.
The S&P 500 recorded ten fresh 52-week highs and six fresh lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 fresh highs and 123 fresh lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.13 billion shares, compared with the average of 11.71 billion for the full session over the past 20 trading days.
