Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Stock Market Today: Amazon's Surge Leads a Rally on Wall Street
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 month ago on
November 1, 2024

Wall Street rallies as Amazon surges and weak jobs report fuels rate cut expectations, despite manufacturing contraction. (AP/Peter Morgan)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW YORK — A surge for Amazon is leading a rally for U.S. stock indexes on Friday, while a surprisingly weak jobs report marred by some unusual occurrences is cementing bets on Wall Street for another cut to interest rates next week.

Amazon and Oil Companies Boost Market

The S&P 500 was 1.2% higher in morning trading and recovering more than half its loss from the day before, which was its worst in eight weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 525 points, or 1.3%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher.

Amazon rallied 7.2% after delivering a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected and was the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 higher. Oil-and-gas companies were also lifting the market after several beat profit expectations for the summer. Chevron’s 4% climb was one of the main reasons for the Dow’s jump after Amazon.

Intel, meanwhile, climbed 6.8% despite reporting a worse loss than expected. Its revenue topped analysts’ estimates, and it gave a forecast for results in the current quarter that likewise topped expectations.

They helped offset a 0.8% slide for Apple, which said it expects revenue growth in the important holiday quarter to be in the low to mid-single digit percentages. That was below several analysts’ forecasts.

Weak Jobs Report Impacts Treasury Yields

In the bond market, short-term Treasury yields sank after a highly anticipated report said U.S. employers added only a net 12,000 workers to their payrolls last month. That was far short of the 115,000 in hiring that economists were expecting or the 223,00 jobs that employers created in September.

The nearly unanimous expectation on Wall Street is still that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate by the traditional size of a quarter of a percentage point next week. But the weaker-than-expected jobs report wiped out the small probability that traders saw of the Fed possibly holding rates steady, according to data from CME Group.

The Fed kicked off its rate-cutting campaign in September with a larger-than-usual cut, as it turns more attention to keeping the job market solid instead of focusing on just driving inflation lower.

The two-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks expectations for the Fed, fell to 4.13% from 4.18% late Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which also takes into account future economic growth and other factors, was holding steadier. It initially fell after the jobs report and then recouped losses to rise back to 4.29%, where it was late Thursday.

Economists Analyze Jobs Report and Market Outlook

Economists said Friday’s jobs report contained a lot of noise and perhaps not much signal. Besides two hurricanes that left destructive paths across the United States during the month, a strike by workers at Boeing also helped depress the numbers.

All those distortions make the numbers difficult to parse, “but it doesn’t change our view that the labor market should further decelerate in coming months,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

The hope on Wall Street is that the economy will still avoid a recession, even if the job market continues to slow, thanks in part to coming cuts to rates by the Fed. It has so far remained more resilient than feared.

A separate report on Friday said U.S. manufacturing contracted by more last month than economists expected. It’s been one of the areas of the economy hurt most by the Fed’s keeping interest rates at a two-decade high until September.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe after finishing mixed in Asia.

The price of oil, meanwhile, rallied again to further trim its loss for the week. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.3% to $70.19 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.6% to $73.98 per barrel.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Trump Taps Forceful Ally of Hard-Line Immigration Policies to Head Customs and Border Protection

DON'T MISS

I’m One of the Last Doctors in This Hospital in Gaza. I’m Begging the World for Help.

DON'T MISS

Is This the End of Christmas Cards? 5 Creative Ways to Spread Holiday Cheer Without the Mailbox

DON'T MISS

The Best Movies of 2024 as Ranked by AP Film Writers

DON'T MISS

Californians Pay Billions for Power Companies’ Wildfire Prevention Efforts. Are They Cost-Effective?

DON'T MISS

California’s Housing Crisis Has Gotten Worse, Not Better, Over the Last 30 Years

DON'T MISS

No. 10 Boise State Grabs CFP Spot, Beating No. 19 UNLV 21-7 in Mountain West Championship

DON'T MISS

Willy Adames Agrees to $182 Million, 7-Year Deal With the Giants, AP Source Says

DON'T MISS

$197M Winning Lottery Ticket Bought in L.A. Must Be Postmarked Today or Forfeited

DON'T MISS

US Announces Nearly $1 Billion More in Longer-Term Weapons Support for Ukraine

UP NEXT

I’m One of the Last Doctors in This Hospital in Gaza. I’m Begging the World for Help.

UP NEXT

Is This the End of Christmas Cards? 5 Creative Ways to Spread Holiday Cheer Without the Mailbox

UP NEXT

The Best Movies of 2024 as Ranked by AP Film Writers

UP NEXT

California’s Housing Crisis Has Gotten Worse, Not Better, Over the Last 30 Years

UP NEXT

No. 10 Boise State Grabs CFP Spot, Beating No. 19 UNLV 21-7 in Mountain West Championship

UP NEXT

Willy Adames Agrees to $182 Million, 7-Year Deal With the Giants, AP Source Says

UP NEXT

$197M Winning Lottery Ticket Bought in L.A. Must Be Postmarked Today or Forfeited

UP NEXT

US Announces Nearly $1 Billion More in Longer-Term Weapons Support for Ukraine

UP NEXT

Police-Made Crack Cocaine Cases from 1980s Under Review in Florida

UP NEXT

FBI Offers $50,000 Reward in Hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Killer

The Best Movies of 2024 as Ranked by AP Film Writers

10 hours ago

Californians Pay Billions for Power Companies’ Wildfire Prevention Efforts. Are They Cost-Effective?

11 hours ago

California’s Housing Crisis Has Gotten Worse, Not Better, Over the Last 30 Years

11 hours ago

No. 10 Boise State Grabs CFP Spot, Beating No. 19 UNLV 21-7 in Mountain West Championship

23 hours ago

Willy Adames Agrees to $182 Million, 7-Year Deal With the Giants, AP Source Says

23 hours ago

$197M Winning Lottery Ticket Bought in L.A. Must Be Postmarked Today or Forfeited

24 hours ago

US Announces Nearly $1 Billion More in Longer-Term Weapons Support for Ukraine

1 day ago

Police-Made Crack Cocaine Cases from 1980s Under Review in Florida

1 day ago

FBI Offers $50,000 Reward in Hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Killer

1 day ago

Syrian Insurgents Reach the Capital’s Suburbs. Worried Residents Flee and Stock Up on Supplies

1 day ago

Trump Taps Forceful Ally of Hard-Line Immigration Policies to Head Customs and Border Protection

WASHINGTON — The picture of who will be in charge of executing President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration and border policie...

8 hours ago

8 hours ago

Trump Taps Forceful Ally of Hard-Line Immigration Policies to Head Customs and Border Protection

9 hours ago

I’m One of the Last Doctors in This Hospital in Gaza. I’m Begging the World for Help.

10 hours ago

Is This the End of Christmas Cards? 5 Creative Ways to Spread Holiday Cheer Without the Mailbox

10 hours ago

The Best Movies of 2024 as Ranked by AP Film Writers

11 hours ago

Californians Pay Billions for Power Companies’ Wildfire Prevention Efforts. Are They Cost-Effective?

11 hours ago

California’s Housing Crisis Has Gotten Worse, Not Better, Over the Last 30 Years

23 hours ago

No. 10 Boise State Grabs CFP Spot, Beating No. 19 UNLV 21-7 in Mountain West Championship

23 hours ago

Willy Adames Agrees to $182 Million, 7-Year Deal With the Giants, AP Source Says

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend