Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on Oct. 8, 2024.
Stocks rallied Friday to kick off November as Amazon led big technology stocks into the green and traders looked past a disappointing jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 288.73 points, or 0.69%, ending at 42,052.19. The S&P 500 advanced 0.41% to close at 5,728.80, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% to 18,239.92.
Amazon rallied 6.2% as strength in the cloud and advertising businesses propelled the e-commerce giant above Wall Street's earnings expectations. Intel popped 7.8% after exceeding analysts' forecasts for revenue and offering strong guidance. The two stocks helped lift investor sentiment following some notable earnings disappointments this week.
Megacap tech stocks are still "the tail wagging the dog," said Rob Williams, chief investment strategist at Sage Advisory. "You're seeing some broadening, but it's still such a massive component right now."
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Meanwhile, the jobs report released Friday showed the U.S. economy added just 12,000 jobs in October, far below the Dow Jones estimate of 100,000. This marked the weakest level of jobs creation since December 2020. The unemployment rate held at 4.1%, in line with estimates. However, traders were not reacting too much to the jobs figures, believing the dismal data was affected by hurricanes and a Boeing strike.
"Friday's jobs report showed that the labor market decelerated quite significantly in October compared to September," said Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer at Bellwether Wealth. "But this was a noisy number largely due to hurricanes and labor strikes, so it's unlikely that this weakness is going to cause the Federal Reserve to pivot away from its expected 25 basis point rate cut at the November meeting."
In addition to the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5., which has led to elevated volatility, investors are also looking toward the Fed's two-day policy meeting on Nov. 6-7.
Money Report
The major averages are wrapping up a choppy week. The S&P 500 lost 1.4% in the period, while the Nasdaq slid 1.5%. Postearnings slumps in Microsoft and Meta Platforms weighed on the indexes. The 30-stock Dow inched down 0.2% week to date.
The strong start to November comes after a difficult October for the market. The 30-stock Dow pulled back 1.3% in October. The broad market index fell 1% in that time, while the Nasdaq dropped 0.5%.
Stocks close higher Friday
U.S. stocks ended Friday's trading session in the green.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 288.73 points, or 0.69%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.41% and 0.8%, respectively.
— Hakyung Kim
Bitcoin falls below $70,000 to start November
Bitcoin slipped to below $70,000 to kick off November, after rising above the $70,000 it has struggled all year to break and flying close to its all-time high this week.
The flagship cryptocurrency was last lower by 1.6%, trading at $69,182.90.
It closed October at $70,334.10, gaining 10.86% on the month in back to back monthly gains and its best month since May 2024 when it gained 13.04%. It was the first time bitcoin closed a month above $70,000 since March 2024.
— Tanaya Macheel
Dollar index rises Friday
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.3% at 104.30 Friday despite the weaker-than-expected October jobs data.
The greenback also rose 0.6% against the Japanese yen and was last trading near 153 yen.
— Hakyung Kim
Utilities sector underperforms Friday
The utilities sector declined 1.9% Friday, making it the biggest underperformer in the broader market.
Losses of 9% in AES shares led the sector's decline. Entergy and NRG fell 5.6% and 3.9%, respectively.
— Hakyung Kim
'Magnificent 7' stocks both lead and drag the Dow this week
Stocks within the "Magnificent Seven" cohort were both the leaders and laggards of the Dow Jones Industrial Average this week.
Amazon far outpaced the other stocks in the blue-chip index and was last on pace for a week-to-date rise of more than 6%, nearly double the benchmark's second-highest performer. Shares of Amazon surged 7% on Friday, nearing an all-time high, after the technology titan reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
On the other hand, Apple and Microsoft, respectively down 4% and more than 3% on the week, dragged the Dow lower.
Shares of Apple were 1.5% lower on Friday, despite the iPhone maker reporting a fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat. However, net income slumped after Apple paid a one-time charge relating to a tax decision in Europe.
On the other hand, Microsoft was last trading nearly 2% higher on Friday following a 6% drop on Thursday after the company issued a disappointing revenue forecast for its current quarter.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Health care, government lead the way in job gains for October
The much weaker-than-expected October jobs report showed a mixed bag for the U.S. economy, with some of the categories scoring big gains in job growth. These were the top three areas of growth last month:
- Health care and social assistance: 51,300 jobs
- Government: 40,000 jobs
- Wholesale trade: 10,400 jobs
Read here for a complete chart of job growth by category.
— Sean Conlon
Boeing, Intel among stocks making the biggest moves midday
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading:
- Cardinal Health — The health-care services provider gained 5.5%, hitting a new 52-week high, after Cardinal exceeded fiscal first-quarter earnings expectations and lifted its adjusted earnings outlook for fiscal 2025. The company posted earnings of $1.88 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $52.28 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet called for adjusted earnings per share of $1.62 on revenue of $50.90 billion.
- Boeing — Shares gained 3.4% after the plane maker agreed to a new negotiated contract with its machinists' union in an effort to bring an end to a seven-week-long strike, with a vote on the proposal set for Monday. The contract would raise worker pay 38% over the next four years, up from a previous offer of 35%.
- Intel — Shares popped 9% after the chipmaker topped third-quarter earnings estimates and shared upbeat quarterly guidance. The company posted adjusted earnings of 17 cents per share on $13.28 billion in revenue.
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
S&P 500 notches best first 10 months of an election year since 1936
The S&P 500 has seen an unusually strong rally so far in a presidential election year.
The broad index climbed 19.6% between the start of 2024 and the end of October's trading month. That is the strongest gain for the first 10 months of a presidential election year going back to 1936, according to Bespoke Investment Group. During that year, the index jumped more than 28% in this period.
Broadly speaking, years when Americans vote on the president are typically positive for stocks. The S&P 500 has gained 7% in an average presidential election year going back to 1952, according to LPL Financial.
— Alex Harring
Jobless rate rose in October for white Americans, bucking the broader trend
The jobless rate rose for white Americans in October to 3.8% from 3.6% in the month prior.
This trend bucked the overall unemployment rate for the country, which held steady at 4.1% in October from September, as well as for the other demographic groups.
The jobless rates for Black and Hispanic workers were unchanged last month at 5.7% and 5.1%, respectively. Asian Americans saw their unemployment rate creep lower to 3.9% from 4.1%.
In October, the unemployment rate surged to 5.7% from 5.1% for Black men. However, this could reflect the data's month-to-month volatility, especially following the plunge in unemployment for Black men to 5.1% in September from 5.9% in August.
"I think that the big increase that we saw in Black male unemployment in October was really just renormalizing after the big, unusual drop in September," Economic Policy Institute president Heidi Shierholz told CNBC.
Read the full story here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Chip stocks rise Friday
Semiconductor stocks climbed higher Friday to wrap up a choppy week for the sector.
Nvidia gained 2.9% on the day, while Intel surged more than 7% after posting better-than-expected quarterly results. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF rose 2.2% on the day.
Week to date, however, the exchange-traded fund still remains lower by 2.4%.
— Hakyung Kim
Evercore, Meritage Homes and Suncor Energy added to Goldman’s conviction list
Goldman Sachs has updated its conviction list for November with key names it believes are poised for gains ahead.
"We add Evercore (EVR), Meritage Homes (MTH), and Suncor Energy (SU) to the U.S. Conviction List, while removing Enphase (ENPH), Kinder Morgan (KMI), and SLB (SLB)," the investment bank wrote in a Friday note.
Evercore leads the pack with year-to-date gains at around 58%, and Goldman sees more upside ahead due to its "best-in-class" bankers and other growth areas.
Meanwhile, the bank believes Meritage Homes' strategy of providing quick close and move-in ready new homes makes it "well-positioned" for better-than-average growth ahead. For Suncor Energy, Goldman pointed to the "long life" of the company's Canadian oil sands assets as generating continued strong free cash flow.
Shares of those names have jumped more than 5% and around 25%, respectively, this year.
— Sean Conlon
Information technology underperforms for the week
Information technology is leading the broader market's losses week to date. The sector is down 2.9%, led by Super Micro Computer's 41.6% drop.
Real estate and materials saw the following biggest declines week to date, falling 1.7% and 1%, respectively.
Communication services is up 2% for the week, making it the top outperformer in the S&P 500 during the period.
The only other sectors in the green are consumer discretionary and financials, which have risen 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
— Hakyung Kim
Retail ETFs pop
Two funds with exposure to retail stocks jumped in Friday's session, lifted by Amazon.
The ProShares Online Retail ETF (ONLN) added about 1.5%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) rose more than 2%.
Both were helped by Amazon's gain of more than 6% after beating earnings expectations. The e-commerce giant highlighted strength in both its cloud computing and advertising businesses.
The ProShares fund has climbed more than 22% this year, slightly outperforming the broader market. On the other hand, the SPDR ETF has lagged the market, adding just more than 12% during the same period.
— Alex Harring
ISM manufacturing survey shows factory activity slipped in October
Factory activity in the U.S. hit its slowest pace of the year in October, according to an Institute for Supply Manufacturing report Friday.
The ISM index posted a reading of 46.5%, representing the share of firms reporting expansion. That was 0.7 percentage points below September and worse than the 47.6% Dow Jones estimate.
Of note in the report, the prices index jumped 6.5 points to 54.8%, the biggest mover of any of the subindexes.
— Jeff Cox
Market is finally 'feeling the effects of the overbought signals,' Wolfe Research says
Near-term volatility is unlikely to subside, particularly with key economic data out Friday and the election next week, according to Wolfe Research.
"After bucking the seasonal headwinds in the first half of the month, the tape looks to finally be feeling the effects of the overbought signals and signs of complacency that we had discussed a few weeks ago," analyst Rob Ginsberg said in a Thursday note.
Ginsburg said he had been thinking the S&P 500 could reach the 5,670 level near term, but failure to hold that level could bring the broad market index back to its September lows of roughly 5,400.
— Pia Singh
Stocks open higher Friday
U.S. stocks began Friday's trading session in the green.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 212 points, or 0.5%.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Hakyung Kim
Amazon and Intel poised to add 100 points to Dow Industrials
Amazon and Intel are poised to add about 100 points to the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average. Amazon will contribute roughly 88 points based on premarket trading and Intel another 10 points.
— Scott Schnipper
U.S. economy adds just 12,000 jobs in October
The U.S. economy added far fewer jobs last month than anticipated at just 12,000. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 100,000 jobs for October. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, came in at 4.1%.
The Labor Department did warn, however, that storms hitting the U.S., as well as a Boeing strike, affected jobs creation for the month.
— Fred Imbert
Stocks making the biggest moves before the bell
These are the stocks on the move in premarket trading:
- Amazon — The e-commerce giant popped 7% after posting stronger-than-expected earnings and robust cloud and advertising growth. Revenue for its Amazon Web Services grew 19% on a year-over-year basis.
- Apple — Shares dropped 1.6% even after the technology giant surpassed top- and bottom-line estimates for the recent quarter and showed 6% revenue growth. Net income declined as the company paid a one-time charge connected to a tax decision in Europe.
- Atlassian — The stock surged more than 21% on the heels of the software company's better-than-expected quarterly results for the fiscal first quarter.
Read the full list here.
— Samantha Subin
Wells Fargo downgrades Estée Lauder
Wells Fargo is moving to the sidelines on Estée Lauder stock and says the cosmetics company is out of touch with its central headwinds.
"We think EL may not fully grasp its core issue, which is solving industry-worst op deleverage, instead saying it'll spend (despite much of Asia a category issue)," analyst Chris Carey wrote in a Thursday note.
The analyst downgraded Estée Lauder stock to equal weight from overweight, and trimmed his price target to $72 per share from $105. His new forecast implies about 4% upside from Thursday's $68.94 close.
"EL will continue to struggle with operating leverage in its model until it sees a more durable recovery in growth in Asia or the company takes targeted steps to reduce its cost base. Until then, we expect earnings to be volatile," the analyst added.
— Brian Evans
Chevron earnings beat expectations, shares rise
Chevron shares were up more than 2% in the premarket on the back of better-than-expected third-quarter results.
The energy giant earned an adjusted $2.51 per share on revenue of $50.67 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of $2.43 per share on revenue of $48.99 billion.
Chevron also returned a record $7.7 billion to shareholders.
— Fred Imbert
Exxon Mobil shares rise after earnings beat
Shares of Exxon Mobil were up more than 1% in the premarket after the oil giant reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations.
The company earned $1.92 per share, adjusted, while analysts polled by LSEG anticipated a profit of $1.88 per share. Exxon also raised its quarterly dividend.
— Fred Imbert
Asia-Pacific markets mostly fall as investors await U.S. election, China's parliament meeting
SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets traded lower Friday, with investors on tenterhook ahead of the U.S. presidential election and China's highly anticipated parliament meeting next week.
China's CSI 300 had jumped over 1% during intraday trading before reversing course to close marginally lower at 3,890.02. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 0.93% higher at 20,505.38.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.63% to finish at 38,053.67, while the broad-based Topix dropped 1.52% to end at 2,644.26.
In South Korea, the blue-chip Kospi lost 0.54% to close at 2,542.36, while the small-cap Kosdaq index declined 1.89% to 729.05.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5% to finish at 8,118.8.
— Anniek Bao
Stocks head for a losing week
The three major indexes are on track to post losses this week.
With just Friday's trading session left, the Nasdaq Composite has slipped more than 2%. The S&P 500 has dropped 1.8%, while the Dow has shed 0.8%.
— Alex Harring
See the stocks making notable after-hours moves
These are some of the stocks moving in extended trading:
- Amazon — The e-commerce giant popped more than 5% after beating earnings expectations on both lines in the third quarter. Amazon said the cloud and advertising businesses both performed well.
- Intel — Shares jumped more than 7% on the back of the chipmaker's better-than-expected third-quarter revenue.
— Alex Harring
Futures are higher
Stock futures were up shortly after 6 p.m. ET.
Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3%. Dow and S&P 500 futures both inched higher by 0.1%.
— Alex Harring
