US benchmark equity indexes closed higher Friday, aided in part by a post-earnings rally in Amazon.com ($AMZN) shares, as traders evaluated the latest jobs report. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% to 18,239.9, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.7% to 42,052.2. The S&P 500 added 0.4% to 5,728.8.
Consumer discretionary led the gainers among sectors, up 2.4%, while utilities saw the biggest drop at 2.3%. For the week, the Nasdaq decreased 1.5%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.4%. The Dow dropped 0.2%. In company news, Amazon shares jumped 6.2%, among the top gainers on all three indexes. The e-commerce giant late Thursday logged third-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street's estimates amid double-digit revenue gains in its cloud-computing platform and advertising business. Charter Communications ($CHTR) delivered a third-quarter beat Friday, buoyed by double-digit revenue gains in residential mobile services and advertising.
The broadband connectivity company and cable operator's shares surged nearly 12%, the second-best performer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Apple ($AAPL) shares fell 1.3%, the second-steepest decline on the Dow. Late Thursday, the tech giant posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results amid higher iPhone and Mac sales, while it incurred a one-time tax charge of $10.2 billion related to a European court order in September. Super Micro Computer ($SMCI) was the worst performer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Friday, down 11%. The US 10-year yield soared 10.2 basis points to 4.38%, while the two-year rate added 4.8 basis points to 4.21%. In economic news, the US economy added 12,000 jobs in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
The consensus was for a 100,000 increase, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Jobs growth fell short of the Street's estimates amid an ongoing Boeing ($BA) strike and potential hurricane-related disruptions, according to government data. The jobs report "is more relief than alarm" for the Federal Reserve, Jefferies said, adding that the central bank is seen delivering a 25-basis-point interest rate cut next week and in December. The US manufacturing sector remained in contraction territory in October amid output weakness ahead of the presidential election, two separate surveys from the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global ($SPGI) showed. "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," Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM's manufacturing business survey committee, said. The US presidential election is scheduled for Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.3% to $69.48 a barrel Friday.
"Oil prices extended gains after reports that Iran was preparing for a retaliatory strike on Israel from Iraq in the coming days," D.A. Davidson said in a note. Gold fell 0.2% to $2,743.30 per troy ounce, while silver lost 0.7% to $32.58 per ounce..