Dow ends 2.6% higher, adding to weekly gains
Wall Street stocks rallied on Friday, propelled by big gains in Apple after solid earnings and positive momentum amid hopes of a pivot in Federal Reserve policy. The Dow Jones finished up 2.6 percent, around 830 points, at 32,861 for its sixth straight positive session. The S&P 500 gained 2.5 percent to 3,901, while the Nasdaq jumped 2.9 percent to 11,102. Apple, the biggest company in terms of market value, soared 7.6 percent after reporting higher profits despite lower-than-expected iPhone sales. The gains by Apple helped prompt an advance by large tech companies like Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet that were punished earlier in the week following disappointing results. Art Hogan, analyst at B Riley Financial, said tech shares benefited from an "oversold rebound," adding that semiconductor shares were lifted by Facebook parent Meta's plan to boost investment in the metaverse. Stocks have also been boosted in recent sessions by hopes the Federal Reserve will soon moderate its policies to counter inflation. Markets largely shrugged off mixed economic data that showed inflation lingering but also a jump in household spending. Among other companies, Amazon sank 6.8 percent as it predicted a slowdown in sales growth during the year-end holiday shopping season. But oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron piled on 2.9 percent and 1.2 percent respectively after reporting blowout profits on lofty commodity prices. (AFP)