WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the lackluster close seen on Thursday, the major U.S. stock indexes are turning in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have moved to the upside, the narrower Dow is pulling back off yesterday's record closing highs.
Currently, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 115.81 points or 0.6 percent at 18,489.42 and the S&P 500 is up 14.86 points or 0.3 percent at 5,856.33.
The Dow, on the other hand, is well off its worst levels of the day but still down by 90.83 points or 0.2 percent at 43,148.22.
The Nasdaq is benefiting from sharp increase by shares of Netflix (NFLX), as the streaming giant is soaring by 10.4 percent to a record intraday high.
The surge by Netflix comes after the company reported third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, a steep drop by shares of American Express (AXP) is weighing on the Dow, with the credit card giant plunging by 4.5 percent.
American Express has come under pressure after reporting third quarter earnings that beat expectations but weaker than expected revenues.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing a modest pullback by housing starts in the month of September.
The Commerce Department said housing starts fell by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.354 million in September after spiking by 7.8 percent to a revised rate of 1.361 million in August.
Economists had expected housing starts to dip by 0.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.350 million from the 1.356 million originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed a sharp pullback by building permits, which tumbled by 2.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.428 million in September after surging by 4.6 percent to a revised rate of 1.470 million in August.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to slump by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.460 million from the 1.475 million originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Gold stocks have moved sharply higher on the day, resulting in a 3.1 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
The rally by gold stocks comes amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery jumping $26.30 to $2,733.80 an ounce.
Substantial strength is also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent surge by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.
Airline and networking stocks are also seeing notable strength, while oil service stocks are moving sharply lower along with the price of crude oil.
With crude for November delivery slumping $1.55 to $69.12 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is tumbling by 2.2 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index surged by 2.9 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index spiked by 3.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and German DAX Index are both up by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are regaining ground after coming under pressure in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.7 basis points at 4.069 percent.
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