Wall Street advanced on Friday but ended the week down, pressured by the tech sector.

Investors are gearing up over the weekend for an anticipated close U.S. election this coming Tuesday.

Wall Street’s three main indices posted gains on Friday, rebounding after Thursday’s losses. Strong quarterly results from Amazon lifted the market, offsetting weak labor data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, composed of 30 large-cap stocks, rose 0.69% to 42,052.19 points, while the S&P 500, with its 500 listed companies, moved up 0.41% to 5,728.80 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.80% to close at 18,239.92.

Amazon.com (+6.19%), a giant in e-commerce, cloud computing, and advertising, saw a strong rise in value after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results and projecting higher capital expenditure.

Conversely, the world’s most valuable company, Apple (-1.33%), saw a sharp decline despite beating revenue and earnings estimates, which analysts attributed to a drop in sales in China, where it’s losing ground to Huawei.

SPX

Economic data released on Friday morning showed weaker-than-expected job creation in October, with only 12,000 new non-farm payrolls, well below economists’ estimate of 113,000 new positions.

While weak payrolls were partly attributed to the impact of hurricanes and Boeing’s extended strike, Amazon’s strong results gave the market a boost to counter the report. The market had fallen on Thursday following reports from Microsoft (+0.99%) and Meta (-0.07%).

By sector, consumer discretionary and technology led gains, while utilities posted losses. Within the Dow Jones, Intel (+7.81%) stood out with strong quarterly results, followed by Amazon.

Despite Friday’s gains, weekly performance was negative. The Dow Jones lost 0.15%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.37%, and the Nasdaq, pressured by the tech sector, declined 1.50%. Among the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks, only Amazon and Alphabet advanced.

Investors are also anticipating a likely 25-basis-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) on Thursday.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More
Ignacio Teson
Ignacio Teson
Economist and Financial Analyst
Ignacio Teson is an Economist and Financial Analyst. He has more than 7 years of experience in emerging markets. He worked as an analyst and market operator at brokerage firms in Argentina and Spain.
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