Unchanged interest rates gave the market a leg up
This week saw the end of October, with all three major indexes marking their third-straight monthly losses -- the worst monthly losing streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) since the start of the pandemic. In a vacuum, however, the market had a stellar five days. The biggest factor behind Wall Street's turnaround was the Federal Reserve's decision to refrain from hiking interest rates, which sent Treasury yields tumbling. The Dow nabbed its best day since June on Thursday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) marked their biggest daily percentage gains since April and July, respectively.
This Week in Earnings
Earnings season delivered this week, with notable reports coming from blue chips as well as Big Tech giants. Starting off with the Dow members, McDonald's (MCD) stock surged on an 8.1% rise in same-store sales, while an order backlog decline dinged Caterpillar (CAT). Moving on to the tech sector, Advanced Micro Device's (ADM) sales outlook disappointed, Apple's (AAPL) holiday guidance also missed estimates, and Fortinet (FTNT) suffered another post-earnings collapse.
It wasn't all doom and gloom in the tech world, though, with both Palantir Technologies (PLTR) and Shopify (SHOP) scoring big quarterly wins. Plus, Starbucks (SBUX) and Roku (ROKU) surged after their respective reports.
Earnings Highlight Quiet Week of Economic Data
Next week will be quiet in terms of economic indicators, though it will still bring U.S. trade deficit and consumer credit data. The earnings season will continue chugging along, though, with reports set to come from Bumble (BMBL), eBay (EBAY), Under Armour (UAA), Walt Disney (DIS) and Yeti (YETI), to name a few. Those eager to prepare for what's ahead can check out why Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) speculators could be offering up a bullish stock signal, as well as this pivotal SPX trendline.