Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange were greeted with a positive outlook as stock futures rose on Thursday night, reflecting investors’ optimism following key earnings reports from major technology companies. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 33 points, representing a 0.07% uptick, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.6%, and Nasdaq 100 futures saw a more substantial increase of 1.1%.
After market hours, both Apple and Amazon released their quarterly results, adding to an eventful week for the tech sector. Amazon’s shares surged by over 13% after the e-commerce giant announced a 20% revenue increase in its cloud computing division during the third quarter, surpassing analysts’ expectations. In contrast, Apple saw a rise of approximately 3% driven by strong fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and an optimistic forecast for the upcoming December quarter. Additionally, streaming giant Netflix experienced over a 3% increase following the announcement of a 10-for-1 stock split.
Courtney Garcia, a senior wealth advisor at Payne Capital Management, commented on the market dynamics during a segment on CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime,” underscoring the significance of these earnings amidst a government shutdown. “We’re in this period where the government is shut down … so we really have to look at these earnings and see how are companies faring, how are their consumers faring,” she stated, noting that the positive earnings reports were encouraging signs for the economy moving forward.
Earlier in the day, U.S. stocks wrapped up a lackluster trading session with every major index closing in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 110 points, about 0.2%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite experienced larger declines, with losses of 0.99% and 1.58% respectively, primarily driven by setbacks in significant tech stocks, including Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia. Meta faced its most significant single-day loss in three years, raising concerns around increasing investments in artificial intelligence.
In a potential easing of trade tensions, President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping announced a one-year trade truce following their recent meeting in South Korea. This agreement has assuaged some investor worries regarding the escalation of trade disputes between the two nations. Trump pledged to cut tariffs associated with fentanyl by 10% immediately, thus lowering overall tariffs on Chinese goods to approximately 47%. Beijing, for its part, agreed to suspend the recent export controls on rare earths for one year. However, other contentious issues, such as controls on Nvidia’s AI chip sales and the divestment of U.S. TikTok operations, remain unresolved.
As the week progresses, U.S. stock indexes appear poised to finish strong, reflecting a positive trajectory for both the week and the month. The S&P 500 has posted a 0.45% gain week to date, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the Dow are up about 1.6% and 0.7%, respectively. Despite October’s reputation for notoriously large one-day stock market losses, this month has seen the S&P 500 rise by 2%, with the Nasdaq gaining nearly 4.1% and the Dow up 2.4%. Notably, the Dow is on track for its sixth consecutive positive month—a feat not achieved since 2018.
