US markets end choppy session in green on Friday

19 Nov 2022 Evaluate

The US markets trimmed some of their gains and ended the choppy session in green on Friday. The initial strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings news from some big-name companies. Apparel retailer Gap (GPS) moved sharply higher after unexpectedly returning to profitability in the third quarter on sales that exceeded analyst estimates. Shares of Foot Locker (FL) also spiked after the athletic footwear and apparel retailer reported better than expected third quarter results and raised its full-year guidance. Discount retailer Ross Stores (ROST) and cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks (PANW) also posted standout gains after reporting quarterly results that beat expectations.

Though, buying interest faded shortly after the start of trading with some disappointing U.S. economic data. The National Association of Realtors released a report showing a substantial decrease in existing home sales in the month of October. NAR said existing home sales plummeted by 5.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.43 million in October after slumping by 1.5 percent to a rate of 4.71 million in September. Existing home sales decreased for the ninth consecutive month, resulting in a 28.4 percent nosedive compared to the same month a year ago.

A separate report released by the Conference Board showed a much bigger than expected decrease by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of October. The Conference Board said its leading economic slumped by 0.8 percent in October after falling by a revised 0.5 percent in September. Street had expected the index to decrease by 0.4 percent, matching the drop originally reported for the previous month. Noting the index fell for the eight straight month, Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director, Economics, at The Conference Board, said the data suggests the economy is ‘possibly in a recession’.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 199.37 points or 0.59 percent to 33,745.69, Nasdaq added 1.11 points or 0.01 percent to 11,146.06 and S&P 500 was up by 18.78 points 0.48 percent to 3,965.34.

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