Nasdaq closes higher ahead of heavy week of earnings
Nvidia market cap briefly overtakes Apple's
Capri plummets after US judge blocks Tapestry merger
Updates to market close
By Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Purvi Agarwal and Carolina Mandl
Oct 25 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq ended higher on Friday, driven by megacap shares, as investors awaited quarterly results from some of Wall Street's biggest companies next week.
Tesla TSLA.O shares rose a day after surging 22% on the electric vehicle maker's sales forecast. Apple AAPL.O and Microsoft MSFT.O also firmed.
"Tesla numbers helped rekindle some optimism of investors that the Magnificent Seven rally is not over," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.
He was referring to thegroup of interest rate-sensitive technology stocks which have surged on enthusiasm for artificial intelligence. Chip heavyweight Nvidia NVDA.O gained, briefly overtaking Apple AAPL.O as the world's mostvaluable company based on its shares.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield edged higher as investors awaited employment data next week for clues on the likely path of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Earlier this week, the yield reached a three-month high of 4.26%, weighing on the stock market.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.86 points, or 0.03%, to end at 5,808.00 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 103.87 points, or 0.56%, at 18,519.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 263.21 points, or 0.62%, to 42,111.15.
The Dow slumped on a loss in banking shares and a fall in McDonald's MCD.N as the fast-food chain copes with an E. coli outbreak linked to itshamburgers.
"Banks have rallied as (U.S. presidential candidate Donald) Trump's odds (of winning) increased, so it seems investors are taking some profits," said Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments.
Regional lender New York Community Bancorp NYCB.N dropped after reporting its fourth straight quarterly loss , primarily due to its commercial real estate loans.
Continued uncertainty around the U.S. election has made investors cautious.
Equities have been unsettled this week by a rapid rise in yields as bets on rate cuts by the Fed unraveled on expectations of a stronger economic outlook.
"The Fed perhaps got a little too dovish ahead of the data. ... The growth and inflation numbers don't necessarily justify easing behavior," said Arnim Holzer, global macro strategist at Easterly EAB Risk Solutions.
Investors are still pricing in another 25-basis-point rate cut at the Fed's November meeting and about two rate cuts by the end of the year, LSEG data showed.
The week starting Oct. 28, the final stretch before the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, is crucial for Wall Street. This is when results from megacap tech firms including AlphabetGOOGL.O, Apple AAPL.O and Microsoft MSFT.O are due, along with the October U.S. nonfarmpayrolls report.
"Next week looms large with five of the Magnificent Seven stocks reporting and a host of tier one economic releases spanning third quarter," said Paul Eitelman, chief investment strategist for North America at Russell Investments.
CapriHoldings CPRI.N slumped after a U.S. judge blocked a pending merger between the fashion holding company and handbag maker Tapestry TPR.N. Shares of Tapestry rose.
Most of the 11 S&P sectors closed down.
USA-ELECTION/STOCKS Wall Street performs better under a unified government but... https://reut.rs/4hbOKMJ
Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Maju Samuel and Richard Chang
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
