The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed at all-time highs on Friday, with the latter benefiting significantly from a post-earnings rally in Netflix shares. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 5,864.7, while the Dow gained 0.1% to 43,275.9. Additionally, the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.6% to 18,489.6.
Among sectors, communication services led the gainers, while financials showed minimal movement, and energy experienced a decline. Looking back at the week, the Dow advanced nearly 1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, and the Nasdaq added 0.8%. In company news, Netflix shares skyrocketed by 11%, marking it as the top gainer on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
This surge followed the streaming giant's release of higher-than-expected third-quarter financial results, which revealed that its new subscriber count exceeded Wall Street's forecasts. Wedbush Securities commented in a Friday note that Netflix's proficiency in leveraging content spending is 'impressive' and should provide a competitive advantage in the streaming arena.
Another notable performer was Intuitive Surgical, with its shares spiking 10%, making it the second-best performer on the Nasdaq and the third-best on the S&P 500. This surge came after the robotic surgical systems company announced better-than-expected third-quarter results, driven by double-digit growth in procedure volumes.
CVS Health introduced David Joyner as its new chief executive on Friday, although the healthcare giant released a preliminary third-quarter earnings outlook that fell short of analyst predictions, leading its shares to drop 5.2%, marking the second-steepest decline on the S&P 500. American Express also experienced a downturn, becoming the worst performer on the Dow with a 3.2% drop, despite its third-quarter results showing year-over-year growth, the revenue did not meet market estimates.
On the bond market, the US two-year yield decreased by 4.1 basis points to 3.95%, while the 10-year rate fell by 1.9 basis points to 4.08%. In economic news, US housing starts witnessed a decrease last month, as gains in single-family projects were offset by a decline in multi-family components, according to government data.
Oxford Economics expressed that 'looking further ahead, we look for starts to begin a recovery that gains more traction next year, eventually pushing starts up to an annualized pace of 1.5 million.' This uptick is expected to be supported by lower mortgage rates as the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates, alongside less restrictive credit conditions for builders and the ongoing need for more housing supply.
The report also indicated that US existing home sales in September fell to the lowest level aside from the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with overall deal closings in Florida negatively affected by Hurricane Helene, according to Redfin. In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil saw a decline of 1.9%, settling at $69.37 per barrel, with analysts noting that oil prices were on track for their largest weekly loss in over a month due to concerns over lower demand.
Gold prices climbed 1% to reach $2,734.70 per troy ounce, while silver surged 6.5% to $33.84 per ounce..