US benchmark equity indexes experienced gains during intraday trading as a recent survey indicated that consumer sentiment in November reached its highest level in six months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.6% to reach 43,983.5 in the early afternoon on Friday. In parallel, the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to 5,999.2, while the Nasdaq Composite saw a more modest increase of 0.1%, settling at 19,283.9.
Notably, sectors such as utilities, real estate, and consumer staples registered the most significant gains, whereas materials, communication services, and technology sectors faced declines. Recent economic reports show that US consumer sentiment experienced improvement for the fourth consecutive month, achieving its highest reading in six months, coupled with a drop in year-ahead inflation expectations to their lowest since December 2020, according to preliminary results from the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers. The survey's interviews were conducted prior to Tuesday's US presidential election, where Donald Trump secured victory over Kamala Harris, making his return to the White House. In a significant move, the Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points on Thursday, following a 50-basis-point decrease in September.
During trading on Friday, the US two-year yield rose by 2.3 basis points, reaching 4.24%, while the 10-year rate decreased by 3.9 basis points, settling at 4.30%. In company news, Axon Enterprise ($AXON) saw its shares surge nearly 27%, making it the top performer on the S&P 500. The increase followed the company's announcement of better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and an upward revision of its revenue outlook for the full year.
Fortinet ($FTNT) experienced a 9.3% rise in its shares, ranking as the second-best performer on the Nasdaq and among the S&P 500, after also reporting strong third-quarter results late Thursday. Tesla ($TSLA) shares jumped by 9%, emerging as the top gainer on the Nasdaq, with its market capitalization surpassing $1 trillion.
Market sentiment suggests that Tesla may derive benefits from Trump's election victory. Conversely, Airbnb ($ABNB) saw a significant drop of 7.4% on the Nasdaq, marking the most substantial decline there and the second-largest on the S&P 500. The vacation rental company's third-quarter earnings were more than halved year-over-year, although revenue edged just above Wall Street's expectations. Akamai Technologies ($AKAM) faced a decline of 14% intraday, marking the worst performance on the S&P 500 after announcing a fall in adjusted earnings year over year and a cut to its full-year outlook. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices fell by 2.9% to $70.29 a barrel, as apprehensions about prolonged supply disruptions due to Hurricane Rafael in the US Gulf of Mexico began to ease, as reported by Reuters. Gold prices dropped 0.5%, resulting in a trade value of $2,692.30 per troy ounce, while silver decreased by 1.6%, settling at $31.36 per ounce..