Wall St closes higher as Amazon's gains offset weak job growth
Amazon.com surges as retail strength boosts profit
US job growth slows sharply in October
Consumer discretionary index pops 2.4%
Indexes up: Dow 0.69%, S&P 0.41%, Nasdaq 0.8%
Adds market details, updates prices after close of trading
By Abigail Summerville
Nov 1 (Reuters) -Wall Street's major indexes ended higher on Friday, rebounding from the previous day's sell-off as Amazon's strong earnings countered a significant drop in U.S. job growth in October.
Amazon.com AMZN.O rose 6.2% after it reported earnings on Thursday that revealed strong retail sales, boosting profit above Wall Street estimates.
Meanwhile, Apple AAPL.O fell 1.2% as investors worried about a decline in its China sales during its most recent quarter.
Other so-called Magnificent Seven members Meta Platforms META.O and Microsoft MSFT.O also reported earnings earlier this week and warned on AI-related infrastructure costs, dragging the Nasdaq .IXIC down on Thursday.
"A new month frequently seems to offer new optimism for investors - especially after we saw a sharp decline yesterday - and after seeing encouraging results from Apple and Amazon," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
Equity markets brushed off weak U.S. October nonfarm payrolls data, given disruptions from hurricanes and strikes. The data showed an increase of 12,000 jobs, much smaller than economists' estimate of a 113,000 rise.
However, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, reassuring investors the labor market remained on solid ground.
After the jobs data was released, investors largely stuck to bets that the central bank would cut rates by 25 basis points in November.
"Third-quarter earnings, interest rates and the election continue to be the main drivers in the near term," Stovall said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 288.73 points, or 0.69%, to 42,052.19, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 23.35 points, or 0.41%, to 5,728.80 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 144.77 points, or 0.80%, to 18,239.92.
All three indexes were down for the week overall, with the S&P 500 falling 1.38%, the Nasdaq dropping 1.51% and the Dow slipping 0.16%.
The U.S. election is on investors' minds, with many analysts predicting a close presidential race and some uncertainty over the final outcome. The Fed's November meeting kicks off the following day.
Amazon.com's gains lifted the Consumer Discretionary index .SPLRCD 2.4% to a more than two-year high, while utility .SPLRCU and real estate .SPLRCR stocks were the biggest sectoral decliners.
Intel INTC.O jumped 7.8% after a better-than-expected revenue forecast. An index of chip stocks .SOX rose 1%.
Chevron CVX.N shares rose 2.8% after the company beat third-quarter profit estimates on higher oil output.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.21-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 88 new highs and 93 new lows on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 posted ten new 52-week highs and six new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and 123 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.13 billion shares, compared with the 11.71 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Inflation, unemployment and wages https://reut.rs/3C3TBQ5
U.S. unemployment jpg https://reut.rs/2X245ch
Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York; additional reporting by Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis
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