Dow, S&P, Nasdaq climb more than 2% following Apple earnings
ozgurdonmaz
Reassuring earnings from Apple and technical factors helped drive stocks sharply higher on Friday. Following mixed performances in the previous two sessions, strong results from the iPhone maker contributed to greater-than-2% increases for each of the major U.S. equity averages.
The Nasdaq Composite (COMP.IND) ended +2.9%, the S&P 500 (SP500) finished +2.5% and the Dow (DOW) closed +2.6%.
The Dow Jones recorded its sixth consecutive day of gains, climbing 828.52 points to close at 32,861.80. The S&P 500 advanced 93.76 points to 3,901.06, while the Nasdaq rose 309.78 points to end at 11,102.45.
Ten of the 11 S&P sectors posted gains during the session. This included a 4.5% jump in Info Tech. Meanwhile, Communication Services, Consumer Staples, Financials, Industrials, Real Estate and Utilities all posted advances of more than 2%. Consumer Discretionary was the only segment in the red, posting a fractional decline.
Apple rose almost 8% following the release of its quarterly results, which bolstered the market after poorly received results during the week from fellow megacaps Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Amazon.
Beyond the Apple catalyst, conditions related to same-day options expirations also contributed to the sizable move.
"Markets continue to push higher on Friday, but most of the activity isn't due to anything that has fundamentally changed in the market," Mott Capital Management's Michael Kramer noted.
Kramer explained: "Recently, there has been a flurry of activity that ties into the same-day options expirations in major indexes and ETFs, such as the SPY ETF, that help push prices higher as traders buy calls and sell puts. This helps push volatility down (the VIX) and increase stock prices (the SPY)."
Bonds snapped a three-day rally, with a bout of profit-taking pushing yields higher. The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) rose 7 basis points to about 4.01%. The 2-year yield (US2Y) climbed 10 basis points to 4.42%. The dollar (DXY) was fractionally higher.
Attention now turns to the Federal Reserve's policy announcement, scheduled for next Wednesday. A rate increase of 75 basis points is largely baked into market assumptions, with traders pricing in an 81% chance of that outcome.
However, the future pace of rate increases remains in doubt, with a broad range of outcomes on the table for the subsequent two Fed meetings. As such, investors will scrutinize the Fed's commentary for signs of their near-term expectations.
Meanwhile, earnings season will continue next week as well, although many of the biggest names have already announced their results. Still, many household names remain on the agenda, including Uber, Pfizer, Peloton, Paramount Global and BP.
Looking at the day's economic news, fresh statistics came out about personal income and spending. Personal income rose 0.4% for September compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, spending advanced 0.6%.
In perhaps the report's most closely watched figure, the PCE price index, a favorite inflation gauge of Fed policymakers, advanced 0.3% for the month and 6.2% for the year.
In other earnings-related news, Intel rose following its quarterly results and the announcement of a cost-cutting program. Exxon also gained following the release of its financial figures.