Strong quarterly earnings from several big-name technology companies helped push U.S. stocks higher in midday trading Friday. The market pulled back somewhat from a sharp rise earlier in the day, but the gains were sufficient to put the Standard & Poor’s 500 index back into positive territory for the year following a market swoon in August and September.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 66 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,556 as of 12:01 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 11 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,064. The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, gained 80 points, or 1.6 percent, to 5,000.
THE QUOTE: “The tone of the market has changed from where we were a week ago, or certainly a month ago,” said Erik Davidson, chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. “There’ve been a lot of worries out there, and yet there are some very strong tail winds the market can’t ignore, and we’re seeing that this morning with tech earnings.”
TECH WINS: Microsoft, Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet all notched gains a day after the three tech giants reported surprisingly strong quarterly results. Microsoft jumped $4.78, or 10 percent, to $52.81, while Amazon gained $37.63, or 6.7 percent, to $601.54. Alphabet climbed $48.84, or 7.2 percent, to $729.98.
CHARGING AHEAD: Shares in Capital One Financial rose 7.8 percent. The credit card issuer and lender reported third-quarter earnings late Thursday that came in ahead of Wall Street’s expectations. The stock added $5.86 to $80.80.
WRONG TUNE: Pandora Media tumbled 32.4 percent after the Internet radio giant reported a loss for the third quarter and gave a weak outlook. The stock lost $6.22 to $12.97.
FALLING SHORT: Skechers U.S.A. slumped 34.7 percent after the shoe company reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit, but a jump in revenue still disappointed Wall Street. The stock slid $16.02 to $30.17.
SECTOR VIEW: Half of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 index moved higher, led by technology stocks, up 2.6 percent. Utilities stocks fell the most, down 1.5 percent.
EUROPEAN ACTION: Stocks rallied for a second day in Europe in anticipation that the European Central Bank may inject more financial support into Europe’s ailing economy. Mario Draghi, head of the ECB, signaled Thursday that the bank could consider providing more stimulus during its meeting in December. Germany’s DAX gained 2.9 percent, while France’s CAC 40 rose 2.5 percent Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.1 percent.
ASIAN SCORECARD: Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.1 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.9 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.3 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China rose 1.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.7 percent.
ENERGY: In oil futures trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 73 cents to $44.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent Crude fell 36 cents to $47.72 a barrel in London.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.08 percent from 2.03 percent the day before. The dollar rose to 121.15 yen. The euro fell to $1.1024.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.