Wall Street ends October on a positive note
- Technology and consumer staples lift stocks higher.
- Nasdaq renews record peak on the last day of the month.
Major equity indexes in the U.S. closed the day modestly higher on their way to their best monthly percentage gains since February.
Fueled by the sharp rises in Mondelez (+6.3%) and Kellogg (+6.6%) shares amid better-than-expected profit and revenue figures, the S&P Consumer Staples Index (SPLRCS) became the best performing sector with a more than 1.0% advance. “You look at the earnings out of these big players and they continue to impress, it strikes me that that leads you to a much more bullish outlook for the fourth quarter,” Steve Chiavarone, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors in New York, told Reuters.
After the closing bell, Devon Energy announced $0.46 EPS (Estimate $0.39) and $3.16B (Estimate $3.17B) revenue for the third quarter of 2017 while CH Robinson also beat the market estimates with $0.85 EPS and $3.78B revenue.
On the other hand, Apple shares, which were sold-off after the announcement of the new iPhone, rose nearly 2% on the back of positive reviews of iPhone X, pushing the S&P Information Technology Index (SPLRCT) 0.6% higher and allowing the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index to refresh its all-time high at 6,737.75 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 29.43 points, or 0.13%, to 23,378.17, the S&P 500 rose 2.32 points, or 0.09%, to 2,575.15 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 28.65 points, or 0.43%, to 6,727.62. For the month, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are up 4.3%, 2.2%, and 3.6% respectively.
Headlines from the NA session:
- US dollar and US bond yields fairly stable ahead of FOMC - Westpac
- Shooting in downtown Manhattan, multiple victims - BNO News
- US Sen. Rep. Leader McConnell: Will be “full speed ahead” in coming weeks on tax legislation
- US: Employment costs expected to pick up further - Wells Fargo
- US: Home prices growth reaches highest pace since 2014 - Wells Fargo
- Fed in the spotlight - UOB
- Suspect the risk is that the Fed hikes more rather than less - BBH
- US: Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7% in September
- US: October Chicago Business Barometer climbs to 66.2
- FOMC: Do not expect change in the target range for the federal funds rate - Rabobank