LinkedIn surged after positing better-than-expected results late on Thursday and lifting its full-year forecast, while Starbucks declined 0.98% despite reporting a surge in profit driven by growth at its U.S. stores.
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That means stocks are up for five straight weeks and had their best month since 2011.
In addition to the Dow industrials’ big gain, the S&P 500 rose 8.3 per cent during the month and the Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 8 per cent, its largest monthly percentage gain since July 2009. The S&P 500 is back in positive territory for the year, up 1.5%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 23.72 points or 0.13 percent to settle at 17,755.80. From mid-August through Thursday’s close, however, the two indexes have sharply diverged. Bank of Japan policymakers are also meeting on Friday and are expected to leave the door open to additional monetary stimulus.
Most of the gains over the past month have come from the largest publicly traded companies, including big moves from Apple, Alphabet-the parent company of Google-and Amazon.com.
The Nikkei stock index slipped briefly after the Bank of Japan stood pat and then regained its composure to end up 0.8 percent at a more than two-month high, buoyed by a media report that the government is considering a supplementary budget of over $25 billion. Both are now headed for their strongest monthly increase in four years amid easing concern that weakness in China will spread.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals worldwide slumped 15.9 per cent as it announced it was severing ties with mail-order pharmacy Philidor RX, which has been criticized for predatory pricing of drugs. Brent crude, which is used to price worldwide oils, fell 83 cents, or 1.7%, to $46.71. Persistent signs of weak global growth prompted the European Central Bank to hint at potential extra stimulus, while China unexpectedly cut its lending rate. Fed officials also explicitly said they might raise short-term interest rates at their meeting in December, catching a few investors by surprise.
On the other hand, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in late October remained near the lowest level in decades, reflecting the small number of layoffs taking place in the economy.
An earlier report on Friday showed household spending rose less than forecast in September, with the smallest gain since January.
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Online travel site Expedia (NasdaqGS: EXPE – news) jumped 7.3 percent as third-quarter net income rose 7.6 percent to $283.2 million behind higher booking and advertising revenues.
