Wall Street is priming for a positive start on Friday after the major averages ended narrowly mixed in the previous session. Positive reaction to Netflix, Inc.’s NFLX earnings could provide a lift to the tech space, given earnings news flow from the sector will likely start in earnest next week. Earnings and speeches by Federal Reserve officials could set the tempo for Friday’s session. China’s third-quarter GDP rose slightly more than estimates, allaying the fears of traders. Gold continues to make record after record, while oil continues to have a volatile ride amid geopolitical tensions.

In premarket trading on Friday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.23% to $583.61 and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ jumped 0.51% to $493.75, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed as traders digested a batch of mixed economic data as well as a flurry of earnings. After opening higher, the major indices experienced some volatility in the morning, although holding mostly above the unchanged line.

Stocks gave back most of their gains in late afternoon trading before finishing on a mixed note.

The Dow Industrials closed at fresh intraday and closing highs, thanks to a positive reaction to Travelers Companies, Inc.’s TRV earnings, while the S&P 500 Index hit an intraday high before squandering all the gains and closing marginally lower.

Insights From Analysts:

After separate reports showed strong September retail sales growth, jobless claims, which fell after Hurricane Helene’s impact wore off, and a decline in industrial production amid the Boeing Co. BA strike, Comerica Chief Economist Bill Adams said, “The economy is in pretty good shape.” “Since consumer spending fuels two-thirds of U.S. demand, the economy can’t be doing too bad as long as consumers still have their pocketbooks open,” he said.

The economist expects the Hurricanes that devastated swathes of the Southeast in late September and early October to be a big drag on releases for October. This will make it difficult to read the underlying trend accurately, he said.

Calling the headwinds temporary, Adams said, “With the Fed expected to continue lowering interest rates through the turn of the year, credit-sensitive sectors of the economy should perk up in coming quarters, sustaining the economic expansion into 2025.”

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Upcoming Economic Data:

• The Commerce Department will release the housing starts report for September at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists, on average, estimate housing starts to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million units, slightly down from the 1.36-million-unit rate in August. Building permits, an indicator of future housing starts may have declined from 1.48 million units to 1.45 million units.
• Among the Fed speakers scheduled for the day are:
  • Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic: 9:30 a.m. EDT
  • Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari: 10 a.m. EDT
  • Fed Governor Christopher Waller is due to speak at 12:10 p.m. EDT.
• The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow data for the third quarter will be released at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

Stocks In Focus:

• Netflix climbed about 5.75% in premarket trading following the streaming giant’s quarterly results.
• Among the other stocks moving on earnings are Intuitive Surgical, Inc. ISRG (up nearly 7%), and Western Alliance Bancorporation WAL (down over 5.25%.
• Ally Financial Inc. ALLY, Autoliv, Inc. ALV, Fifth Third Bancorp FITB, Procter & Gamble Company PG, Regions Financial Corporation RF and Schlumberger Limited SLB and American Express Company AXP are among the noteworthy companies reporting ahead of the market opening.
• CVS Health Corporation CVS fell over 10% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is naming longtime executive David Joyner as its new chief, succeeding Karen Lynch.
• Coherent Corp. COHR fell over 6% on a negative analyst action.

Commodities, Bonds And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures pulled back modestly but gold futures gained ground as they scaled a fresh record. Bitcoin BTC/USD added over 1.50% over the past 24 hours and traded just under the $68K mark.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield was little changed at 4.097%.

Asian stocks closed mostly higher, led by China and Hong Kong, which rallied on the back of the Chinese third-quarter GDP data. The Japanese market benefited from the yen’s weakness. The European Central Bank’s rate cut also buoyed sentiment.

The European markets also advanced in early trading, although the U.K. market was experiencing some weakness.

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