The New York Stock Exchange operates during normal business hours in the Financial District, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
Wall Street capped a choppy day of trading Friday with modest gains for stocks, nudging the major indexes to more all-time highs.
The latest milestones punctuated the best month for the broader market in nearly a year, as investors balanced encouraging company earnings growth against concerns over rising inflation and supply chain disruptions.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% after wavering between small gains and losses for much of the day. That was good enough to give the benchmark index its fourth all-time high this week. The index, which fell 4.8% in September, bounced back with a 6.9% gain for October, its biggest monthly gain since November 2020. The S&P is now up 22.6% for the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq each rose 0.3% Friday. Both also set all-time highs.
Bond yields mostly fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 1.55% from 1.56% late Thursday.
Investors continued to focus on corporate earnings as they look for clues for how companies are managing persistent supply chain delays and rising inflation.
“It’s been a big week of earnings," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. "Pretty much since noon Eastern we just kind of bounced back and forth, so it tells me most people are where they want to be for the end of month.”
The S&P 500 rose 8.96 points to 4,605.38. Decliners outnumbered gainers in the index. Still, gains in technology, health care and communication services stocks outweighed losses elsewhere in the market.
The Dow added 89.08 points to 35,819.56, while the Nasdaq gained 50.27 points to 15,498.39. The Russell 2000 index of small companies slipped 0.79 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,297.19.
A wide range of companies, most recently Apple and Amazon, have flagged challenges due to rising costs or supply chain problems.
Apple fell 1.8% a day after the iPhone maker reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue fell short of analysts’ forecasts because supply shortages are making it difficult to meet demand. Internet retail behemoth Amazon shed 2.2% after higher costs and supply chain problems crimped its third-quarter financial results and its revenue forecast.
The warnings from Apple and Amazon raise concerns that the economic recovery faces a bumpier road ahead through the holiday shopping season as people pay more for products and wait longer to receive everything from everyday purchases to gifts.
“It’s really impressive that the market’s been able to shake off Amazon and Apple,” Kinahan said.
The latest data from the Commerce Department shows that consumer spending grew just 0.6% in September, a cautionary sign for an economy that remains in the grip of a pandemic and a prolonged bout of high inflation.
Investors wrapped up a busy week of earnings with several large companies reporting mixed results. Starbucks fell 6.3% after reporting solid fiscal fourth-quarter profits, but weak revenue. U.S. Steel jumped 12.9% after the steel maker reported strong third-quarter financial results and raised its dividend.
Newell Brands, maker of Rubbermaid and other consumer products, rose 5.1% after reporting solid third-quarter results.
AbbVie rose 4.6%, one of the biggest gainers among health care companies in the S&P 500, after the drugmaker reported strong third-quarter financial results and raised its profit forecast for the year.
Outside of earnings, Wall Street is looking ahead to next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve as the central bank moves closer to trimming bond purchases that have helped keep interest rates low.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
