Friday’s Stock Market Open: US Equities Rise After Tech Giants Deliver Strong Results, Gold Jumps

U.S. stocks rose on Friday as traders welcomed strong results from major tech firms as well as good consumer spending data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 41.83 points to 26,355.48, while the S&P 500 rose 16.14 points to 3,262.14 and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 144.45 points to 10,732.26.

The euro zone saw its economy shrink by a record 12.1% in the second quarter.

Traders will look to Washington as lawmakers seek an agreement on new stimulus package as emergency unemployment benefits expire Friday.

Four tech giants – Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOG) – delivered strong quarterly results after Thursday’s closing bell.

“Apple’s earnings report was breathtaking,” said Andrew Smith, chief investment strategist, Delos Capital Advisors. “Double-digit revenue growth during a quarter which saw most of the U.S. economy shutdown is remarkable. This earnings report shows that Apple is firing on all cylinders. Apple’s stock crossed the symbolic $400 a share threshold in after-hours trading, boosted by a four-for-one stock split, which was icing on the cake for investors.”

“The numbers [from big tech companies] were amazing relative to expectations,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group.

U.S. personal income fell by 1.1% in June, after dropping 4.2% in May.

But the Commerce Department said on Friday that consumer spending climbed by 5.6% in June after a record 8.5% surge in May.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases continue to climb.

“It’s shocking no matter how you look at it,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Schwab Center for Financial Research. “The virus is getting worse in a lot of areas, and some places have started to shut back down again. If you look at earnings in terms of beat rates, the results have actually been pretty good, granted the expectations bar has been set very low.”

Overnight in Asia markets finished mixed, as China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 0.71%; Japan’s Nikkei-225 dropped 2.82% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Exchange fell 0.47%.

In Europe markets traded mixed, as Britain’s FTSE-100 slipped 0.1%, while France’s CAC-40 rose 0.3% and Germany’s DAX gained 0.87%.

Crude oil futures gained 1.25% at $40.42 per barrel, Brent crude rose 0.6% at $43.51. Gold futures jumped 1.95%.

The euro fell 0.28% at $1.1814 while the pound sterling climbed 0.31% at $1.3135.