U.S. benchmark equity indexes finished higher on Friday as Amazon.com shares experienced a remarkable surge following the e-commerce giant's quarterly results that exceeded Wall Street expectations. Amazon shares rose by 6.2% after the company reported Q3 results showcasing impressive double-digit revenue gains from its cloud-computing platform and advertising business. However, U.S.
job creation fell significantly short of Wall Street estimates in October, impacted by an ongoing strike at Boeing and potential disruptions related to hurricane activity, as indicated by government data. The jobs report has been characterized as "more relief than alarm" for the Federal Reserve, according to Jefferies, amid growing anticipation that the central bank is poised to implement a 25-basis-point interest rate cut next week and in December. The manufacturing sector in the U.S.
continued to show contraction for the month of October, with surveys from the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global revealing output weaknesses ahead of the presidential election. Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM's manufacturing business survey committee, remarked, "Demand remains subdued, as companies continue to show an unwillingness to invest in capital and inventory due to concerns about federal monetary policy direction in light of the fiscal policies proposed by both major political parties." In commodities, December West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at $69.42 per barrel, rising $0.16, while December Brent crude saw an increase of $0.19 to settle at $73.00.
This price action followed reports indicating that Iran is planning further attacks on Israel utilizing its Iraqi militia, stirring fears about the potential for an expanding conflict in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Apple shares experienced a decline of 1.3% on Friday. The tech titan reported better-than-expected fiscal Q4 results, driven by strong sales from iPhones and Macs, but disclosed a one-time tax charge of $10.2 billion tied to a European court order from September..