US markets settle higher with modest gains

30 Oct 2021 Evaluate

The US markets showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading session and settled higher with modest gains in Friday. The rebound on the day lifted the major averages to new record closing highs. A negative reaction to quarterly results from tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) contributed to the early weakness on Wall Street. Shares of Apple climbed off their worst levels but closed notably lower after the iPhone maker reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that matched participants estimates but weaker than expected sales amid supply chain issues. Online retail giant Amazon also ended the day in negative territory after reporting much weaker than expected third quarter results. However, selling pressure waned over the course of the session as traders seemed reluctant to make significant bets ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week. The Fed is likely to leave interest rates unchanged but could announce plans to begin scaling back its asset purchase program.

On the economic front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed personal income decreased by much more than expected in the month of September. The Commerce Department said personal income slumped by 1.0 percent in September after inching up by 0.2 percent in August. Street had expected personal income to edge down by 0.2 percent. The bigger than expected drop in personal income primarily reflected a decrease in government social benefits, both in unemployment benefits and ‘other’ benefits. A separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by slightly less than initially estimated in the month of October. The report said the consumer sentiment index for October was upwardly revised to 71.7 from the preliminary reading of 71.4. While the upward revision surprised participants, who expected the index to be unrevised, the final reading was still below September's 72.8.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 89.08 points or 0.25 percent to 35,819.56, Nasdaq rose 50.27 points or 0.33 percent to 15,498.39 and S&P 500 was up by 8.96 points or 0.19 percent to 4,605.38.

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