WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, with the major U.S. stock indexes all moving to the upside after ending the previous session mixed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has shown a notable advance, reaching a new record intraday high.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq is up 246.24 points or 1.3 percent at 18,661.73, the S&P 500 is up 44.48 points or 0.8 percent at 5,854.34 and the Dow is up 127.13 points or 0.3 percent at 42,501.49.
The strength on Wall Street may partly reflect ongoing optimism about the outlook for the economy despite recent concerns about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates slower than previously anticipated.
The Fed is still widely expected to lower rates by a quarter point next month, but CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicates a 24.0 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged in December.
Adding to the economic optimism, the University of Michigan released revised data showing consumer sentiment unexpectedly improved in the month of October.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for October was upwardly revised to 70.5 from a preliminary reading of 68.9. Economists had expected the index to be upwardly revised slightly to 69.0.
With the bigger than expected upward revision, the consumer sentiment index is now modestly above the final September reading of 70.1.
The consumer sentiment index has now increased for the third consecutive month, reaching its highest level since hitting 77.2 in April.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a separate report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods fell by more than expected in September amid a continued slump by orders for transportation equipment.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders slid by 0.8 percent in September, matching a revised decrease in August.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to fall by 0.5 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding a 3.1 percent plunge by orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.4 percent in September after climbing by 0.6 percent in August. Ex-transportation orders were expected to edge down by 0.1 percent.
Sector News
Airline stocks have shown a substantial rebound after falling sharply on Thursday, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3.0 percent.
Semiconductor and computer hardware stocks are also seeing significant strength, contributing to the surge by the Nasdaq.
An increase by the price of crude oil is also contributing to considerable strength among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.
Software, steel and networking stocks are also seeing notable strength, while gold stocks have moved to the downside despite a modest increase by the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are narrowly mixed. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 4.210 percent.
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