US stocks rise; mega tech earnings, payrolls loom large
Investing.com -- U.S. stock index futures edged higher Friday as investors hunkered down before a string of major technology earnings, as well as the highly-influential monthly jobs report, in the coming week.
At 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 175 points, or 0.4%, the S&P 500 index climbed 30 points, or 0.5% and NASDAQ Composite gained 135 points, or 0.7%.
However, despite these gains, the indices were still on course for losses this week, which would snap six-week win streaks for all three. Risk appetite remained frail, and there has also been some profit-taking after a series of record highs earlier in October. Mega tech earnings due next week
The third-quarter earnings season is set to peak next week, with five of Wall Street’s so-called “Magnificent Seven” set to report earnings.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL ) will report on Tuesday, followed by Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT ) on Wednesday. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL ) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN ) will then report on Thursday.
The five firms represent a large chunk of overall market capitalization in Wall Street, with their earnings likely to act as a bellwether for the broader market. Focus will be squarely on whether artificial intelligence proved to be a major earnings driver, especially amid increased capital expenditures on the fast-growing sector.
Beyond the Magnificent Seven, a barrage of other Wall Street majors are set to report next week, including Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD ), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT ), Visa (NYSE:V ), Ford (NYSE:F ), and Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER ). Corporate news continues
Capri Holdings (NYSE:CPRI ) slumped over 40% after a U.S. judge blocked a pending merger between the parent company of Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo and handbag maker Tapestry (NYSE:TPR ). Shares of Tapestry soared 15%.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC ) stock leapt 11% after the memory-chip-maker topped quarterly profit estimates on Thursday, while health insurer Centene (NYSE:CNC ) advanced 14% after beating estimates for third-quarter profit.
Additionally, Apple stock dipped 0.9% after data showed iPhone sales in China fell in the third quarter, suffering from severe domestic competition. Payrolls loom large
New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased more than expected in September, a positive sign ahead of next week's publication of the advance estimate of third-quarter GDP next week.
The end of next week sees the release of the influential monthly jobs report, which will command a lot of attention, especially after last month's release came in much hotter than expected and curbed expectations of more hefty Fed cuts.
Increased odds of a Donald Trump presidency, over Kamala Harris, also saw markets positioning for inflationary U.S. policies in the coming years. Crude on track for weekly gains
Oil prices rose Friday, on track for a weekly gain as tensions in the crude-rich Middle East ensured a risk premium remained within the market.
By 09:35 ET, the Brent contract climbed 1.6% to $75.56 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1.6% higher at $71.31 per barrel.
Both contracts are on course to register gains of around 3% this week as traders await Israel's response to a missile attack by Iran on Oct. 1 that could disrupt from the world’s top oil-producing region.
US and Israeli officials are set to restart talks for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza in the coming days, but hopes are not high as a number of previous attempts to reach a deal have failed.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
Source: Investing.com
