S&P 500 Reaches 2-Month High; Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon Soar

Nichole Harper
22 Oct, 2015
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street traded higher after earnings were ahead of expectations. After the close Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon soared more than 9% after reporting stronger than expected earnings. European markets were cautiously optimistic ahead of the ECB meeting tomorrow.

[R][5:10 PM New York City, New York – Stocks on Wall Street traded higher after earnings were ahead of expectations. After the close Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon soared more than 9% after reporting stronger than expected earnings. European markets were cautiously optimistic ahead of the ECB meeting tomorrow.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street traded higher after several companies including McDonald’s reported better than expected earnings.

Seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims increased 3,000 to 259,000 from the previous week’s revised claims of 256,000.

The preliminary insured unemployment rate in the week ending October 10 was 1.6% unchanged from the prior week''s unrevised rate, the Department of Labor said.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index jumped 159.37 or 1.5% to 10,757.10.

S&P 500 index increased 33.18 or 1.6% to 2,052.11 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 77.31 or 1.6% to 4,917.58.

Crude oil in New York edged down 0.05 cents to $45.15 a barrel and gold edged up 0.22 cents to $1,167.40 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

3M Co ((MMM)) soared 4% or $6 to $155.82 after the diversified technology company reported net sales in the third-quarter ending in September declined 5.3% from a year ago to $7.71 billion.

Net income in the quarter were flat at $1.30 billion from a year ago and diluted earnings per share increased to $2.05 compared to $1.98 in the same quarter last year.

The company forecasted earnings per share for the year in the range of $7.73 to $7.78 and plans to reduce 1,500 jobs under global restructuring program.

Eli Lilly and Co ((LLY)) fell 45 cents to $76.56 after the drug manufacturer said revenues in the third-quarter ending in September rose 2% from a year ago to $4.96 billion.

Net income in the quarter soared 60% to $799.7 million or 75 cents per diluted share compared to $500.6 million or 47 cents from the same quarter last year.

The company lifted earnings per share forecast in the range of $3.40-$3.45 from the earlier estimated range of $3.20 to $3.30 and revenue between $19.7 billion and $20 billion.

McDonald''s Corporation ((MCD)) jumped 7.4% or $7.56 to $110.10 after the quick service restaurants operator reported revenues in the third-quarter ending in September declined 5% from a year ago to $6.62 billion.

Net income in the quarter surged 23% to $1.31 billion or $1.40 per diluted share compared to $1.07 billion or $1.09 from the same quarter last year.

Global comparable sales in the quarter jumped 4% and U.S. comparable sales edged up 0.9% while international lead markets comparable sales soared 4.6% in Australia, the U.K. and Canada and in Germany.

McDonald''s said comparable sales in the high growth markets segment soared 8.9% reflecting very strong comparable sales performance in China.

European Markets

U.K. retail sales volume in September increased 1.9% from August and surged 6.5% from a year ago month.

Amount spent in the retail industry rose to £34.2 billion and online sales jumped 15.2% from a year ago month, the Office for National Statistics said.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 36.47 or 0.6% to 6,385.15 and in Frankfurt the DAX index jumped 254.90 or 2.5% to 10,490.74.

In Paris, CAC 40 index soared 110.39 or 2.4% to 4,805.49.

Daimler AG increased 3.1% to €76.01 after the Germany-based passenger car maker reported revenues in the third-quarter ending in September soared 13% from a year ago to €37.28 billion.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 14% from a year ago to €2.42 billion compared to €2.82 billion and diluted earnings per share dropped to €2.23 from €2.56.

Revenues in Mercedes-Benz business jumped 11% to €20.71 billion and revenues in Daimler Trucks segment soared 14% to €9.65 billion.

Orange SA surged 7.7% to €15.50 after the France-based mobile company reported revenues in the third-quarter ending in September jumped 4.9% from a year ago to €10.28 billion and operating profit edged up €3.47 billion compared to €3.45 billion.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Tokyo stepped back after the Nikkei reached to a six-week high at the close of yesterday.

Nikkei average in Tokyo edged lower after surging as much as 2% in the previous session on the expectation of additional stimulus from the Bank of Japan.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 118.41 or 0.6% to 18,435.87 and the broader Topix index fell 8.59 to 1,518.22.

The yen strengthened to 119.73 against a dollar.

Dentsu Inc slipped 1.8% to 6,470 yen after the advertising and marketing services provider’s subsidiary agreed to acquire France-based range of communications services and consumer brand activation provider ZoneFranche SAS to expend the business in Europe.

Fujifilm Holdings Corp declined 4.8% to 4,500 yen after the Nikkei daily said films, digital cameras and other medical devices maker’s operating profit for the first-half ending in September to jump 6% to 76 billion yen from 71.5 billion yen in the year-ago period.

The company estimated sales for the year to increase 4% to 2.58 trillion yen and profit to soar 10% to 190 billion yen.

Chugai Pharmaceutical said nine-month sales increased 10% and net soared 20% and said full-year sales are expected to rise 5.5%. SPK Corp was halted after the release of first-half results.

Markets in India were closed to celebrate Dusserah, the onset of final few weeks before the Hindu New Year on November 12.