On Friday, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached all-time highs, propelled in part by a strong post-earnings rally in Netflix shares. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, closing at 5,864.7, while the Dow gained 0.1%, reaching 43,275.9. The Nasdaq Composite also saw a notable increase, climbing 0.6% to finish at 18,489.6.
Among sectors, communication services led the gains, while financials remained largely unchanged, with energy being the only sector to decline. Over the course of the week, the Dow advanced nearly 1%, and the S&P 500 posted a 0.9% increase, with the Nasdaq adding 0.8%. In specific company news, Netflix shares surged 11%, marking it as the top gainer on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq for the day.
The streaming giant exceeded Wall Street expectations with its latest quarterly financial results, showcasing robust growth in subscriber numbers. In a note released by Wedbush Securities, Netflix’s capability to effectively leverage content spending was described as "impressive," indicating a strengthening competitive position in the streaming market. Another highlight was Intuitive Surgical shares, which saw an impressive 10% surge, making it the second-best performer on the Nasdaq and the third-best on the S&P 500.
The company reported better-than-expected third-quarter outcomes fueled by double-digit growth in procedure volumes for its robotic surgical systems. In healthcare news, CVS Health announced David Joyner's appointment as chief executive on Friday. However, the company issued a preliminary third-quarter earnings outlook that fell short of street estimates, resulting in a 5.2% drop in its shares, the second-steepest decline on the S&P 500. American Express underperformed on the Dow with a 3.2% drop.
Despite a year-over-year increase in third-quarter results, the payments giant's revenue disappointed against market expectations. In the bond market, the US two-year yield decreased by 3.7 basis points to 3.95%, while the 10-year rate fell 1.5 basis points to 4.08%. From an economic perspective, US housing starts declined last month, largely due to a reduction in multi-family projects, despite gains in single-family home construction.
Oxford Economics anticipates a future recovery in building starts, projected to rise to an annualized pace of 1.5 million as mortgage rates fall and lending conditions improve. Meanwhile, September's existing home sales in the US hit an all-time low, with the overall closing deals in Florida particularly affected by Hurricane Helene, as reported by Redfin. On the commodities front, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell by 1.9% to $69.34 a barrel, with concerns over decreasing demand pushing prices towards their largest weekly loss in over a month, according to D.A.
Davidson. Gold prices increased by 1.1%, reaching $2,737.10 per troy ounce, while silver saw a substantial jump of 6.8%, trading at $33.94 per ounce..