U.S. equity indexes and government bond yields exhibited a mixed performance following midday trading on Friday, with crude oil futures experiencing a notable decline. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.1%, settling at 19,251.2, while the S&P 500 saw a moderate increase of 0.3%, rising to 5,991.3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6% higher to reach 43,969.1, with real estate, utilities, and consumer discretionary sectors leading the gainers intraday.
In contrast, the materials sector faced the most significant losses. In the realm of U.S. Treasury yields, a mixed picture emerged, with the 10-year yield down by 2.9 basis points to 4.31%, whereas the two-year rate increased by 1.7 basis points to 4.24%. Turning to economic indicators, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index showed a rise to 73.0 in November from 70.5 in October, surpassing expectations which predicted an increase to 71.0 in a Bloomberg survey.
Respondents pointed to one-year inflation expectations diminished to 2.6%, down from 2.7% in October, while five-year inflation predictions increased to 3.1% from 3%. In company-specific news, Axon Enterprise reported a surge in Q3 adjusted earnings and sales, prompting an upward revision of its revenue outlook for 2024.
This led shares to soar by 21% intraday, marking the highest performance on the S&P 500. Akamai Technologies faced a steep decline of 13% intraday, becoming the worst performer on the S&P 500 after its Q4 non-GAAP earnings and sales guidance fell short of market expectations and a downward revision of its full-year earnings forecast. Additionally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices tumbled by 3%, landing at $70.13 per barrel..