The benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) closed at its highest level of the year on Friday amid growing optimism the Federal Reserve was done raising U.S. interest rates and could begin to cut them next year as inflation cools.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 294.61 points, or 0.82%, to 36,245.5, the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) rose 78.81 points, or 0.55%, to 14,305.03, and The S&P 500 index closed at 4,594.63 points, up 26.83 points, or 0.59%, and topping the close on July 31 at 4,588.96, which had been the prior high of 2023.
Market Movers
Tesla handed over the initial batch of Cybertrucks to buyers on Thursday. The base model of what CEO Elon Musk called “potentially our best product ever” costs $60,990, pricier than expectations. The driving range on one charge for the base model is 250 miles. Higher-end models have a driving range of up to 340 miles. Investors had been hoping the highest-range version of the Cybertruck might go 500 miles on one charge. Shares of Tesla declined 0.5%.
Pfizer closed 5.1% lower after it said it wouldn’t be moving forward with a Phase 3 trial of its weight-loss candidate, twice-daily danuglipron, as high rates of the most common adverse affects, including nausea and vomiting, were observed.
Elastic jumped 37% to $110.20 after the data analytics company reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings and sales that beat Wall Street estimates. Elastic expects revenue in its third quarter of about $320 million, just ahead of analysts’ forecasts. Wells Fargo analyst Andy Nowinski upgraded the stock to Overweight from Hold and raised the price target to $115 from $70.
UiPath, the automation-software company, reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted profit and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations. Annual recurring revenue in the period rose 24% to $1.38 billion, topping the company’s forecast range of $1.359 billion to $1.364 billion. The stock gained 27%.
Dell Technologies, the personal-computer maker, reported adjusted third-quarter earnings that beat forecasts but lower-than-expected revenue on weak demand. Dell said revenue in its client solutions group—mostly PCs—was $12.3 billion, down 11% from a year earlier, and below the Wall Street consensus forecast of $12.9 billion. Dell said it expects a rebound in revenue growth “given the tailwinds to our business.” Shares fell 5.3%.
Third-quarter adjusted earnings at Marvell Technology topped expectations and the chip company said data-center revenue declined 11% to $556 million but beat forecasts of $525 million. Marvell said it expects revenue in the fourth quarter of $1.42 billion, plus or minus 5%, compared with $1.419 billion a year earlier. Analysts have been expecting revenue of $1.46 billion. Shares dropped 5.3%.
Ulta Beauty, the beauty company, reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, sales, and same-store sales. Ulta raised the lower end of its sales and profit outlook for the fiscal year. Ulta shares jumped 11%.
Samsara posted better-than-expected revenue and profit for the fiscal third quarter, and issued guidance for the fourth quarter that beat expectations. Shares of the asset-tracking software provider surged 26%.
Paramount Global climbed 9.8% after The Wall Street Journal reported the media company was in discussions with Apple about bundling their respective streaming services.
U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group were down 1.2% to $73.99 after the Chinese e-commerce company was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight by Morgan Stanley and the price target was reduced to $90 from $110.
Uber shares rose 5.6% in extended trading on Friday after the ride-hailing company was added to the S&P 500 Index, replacing Sealed Air Corp.
Market News
Powell says Fed to move 'carefully' on interest rates, 'soft landing' taking shape
The risks of the Federal Reserve slowing the economy more than necessary have become "more balanced" with those of not moving interest rates high enough to control inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday, reaffirming the U.S. central bank's intent to be cautious but also offering fresh optimism on its progress so far.
Noting that a key measure of inflation averaged 2.5% over the six months ending in October, near the Fed's 2% target, Powell said it was clear that U.S. monetary policy was slowing the economy as expected with a benchmark overnight interest rate "well into restrictive territory."
OpenAI delays launch of custom GPT store to early 2024
ChatGPT maker OpenAI has delayed the launch of its custom GPT store until early 2024, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Friday.
During its first developer conference in November, OpenAI introduced the custom GPTs and store, which were set to be launched later that month.
The company is continuing to "make improvements" to GPTs based on customer feedback, the memo said.
Amazon signs up SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches for Kuiper satellites
Amazon (AMZN.O) has signed an agreement with SpaceX to launch three of Elon Musk's Falcon 9 rockets to support deployment plans for its Project Kuiper, the ecommerce giant said on Friday.
Kuiper is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite broadband network designed to accommodate multiple launch providers and vehicles. The company announced the project in 2019, the year SpaceX began deploying its first operational Starlink spacecraft.