Microsoft, Amazon lift S&P, Nasdaq
Gains in technology stocks powered by strong earnings from Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P yesterday, but losses in Chevron and Merck kept the Dow in the red.
Microsoft advanced 6.20 per cent after the world’s largest software company reported further gains from its cloud computing services.
Amazon jumped 8.26 per cent and Google-parent Alphabet gained 4.26 per cent after results. The gains drove the S&P technology index up about 2 per cent. The sector has gained about 30 per cent this year, double the gains in the broader S&P index.
“Earnings is driving the positive sentiment at the open,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St Petersburg, Florida. “Certainly a lot of enthusiasm for tech stocks that have reported.” As the thirdquarter earnings season nears the halfway mark, 74 per cent of the S&P companies topped expectations as of Thursday, above the 72 per cent beat rate for the past four quarters.