Amazon earnings helped push stocks higher ahead of the electionAhead of the US election, Amazon and Apple were the last of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech behemoths to report earnings. Amazon’s stocks jumped 6 per cent as results beat expectations and revenues were higher than forecast; the company also provided an optimistic outlook for the holiday quarter. Apple’s stock fell slightly after its earnings report, even as iPhone sales exceeded expectations, after the company dialed back its revenue forecast and lowered its sales guidance for China. Intel rose 7 per cent on hopes for its return to form in the PC and server markets.
So far this reporting season, with more than 60 per cent of the quarter’s results in, the blended annual profit growth for the SPY 500 has pushed up to around 7.5 per cent, beating early estimates. Meanwhile, global markets continue to digest these numbers, with US Treasury bonds steady ahead of a long-awaited jobs report and even longer-anticipated Fed rate cut; while in the UK, post-election chaos begins to subside after a contentious week of new budget announcements by a Labour government, with gilt yields up and some currency swings.
These dynamics in the market come when inflation readings seem relatively tame, and so are providing for renewed expectations of a Fed cut, oil prices are inching higher across the globe, and international stock markets seem to have a mishmash of data points telling a different narrative at once. From now on, more clarity shall come from the forthcoming US employment data, ISM and S&P Global manufacturing surveys, in addition to a number of massive US corporate earnings reporting.
Source: Reuters
