US markets recover thanks to support from Amazon

Wall Street stocks rebounded on Friday amid mixed earnings from technology companies and investor anxiety less than a week before another U.S. presidential election.

After major indexes fell on Thursday following big falls in Microsoft and Meta, Amazon’s buoyant results helped support the market.

Investors also took a positive note from a weak jobs report that showed the U.S. economy added just 12,000 jobs last month, far below expectations in a report that was temporarily clouded by severe hurricanes and the Boeing strike.

But on the bright side, the report increased the likelihood that the Fed will cut interest rates again next week. The vast majority of futures markets expect a quarter-point rate cut.

All three major US indexes rose, led by the Nasdaq. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.7 percent at 42,052.19, the S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent at 5,728.80 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8 percent at 18,239.92.

According to Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hara, Amazon’s report “countered some of the negativity that had built up against mega-cap stocks yesterday.”

Analysts expect cautious trading early next week ahead of Tuesday’s US presidential election, the results of which could be delayed by several days.

Oil prices rose after reports Iran was planning a major retaliatory strike on Israel, reigniting the market’s geopolitical concerns.

Expectations for a big Fed rate cut, like a sharp 50 basis point cut in September, waned after data showed strong economic growth in the United States and inflation slightly above the central bank’s long-term target of two percent.

But “lower-than-expected job creation could prompt the Fed to make a widely expected 25 basis point cut after their next meeting later next week,” said Mahmoud Alqudsi, senior market analyst at brokerage ADSS.

Bret Kenwell, investment analyst at eToro, said October employment figures “should also take into account the December rate cut.” (AFP)