U.S. Stocks See Further Upside, Poised For Strong Weekly Gains

Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, extending the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. The Dow is leading the charge once again, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is posting a more modest gain.

Currently, the Dow is off its highs of the session but still up 268.10 points or 0.6 percent at 44,138.45. The S&P 500 is up 19.29 points or 0.3 percent at 5,698.00 and the Nasdaq is up 18.82 points or 0.1 percent at 18,991.24.

With the continued upward move, the major averages are poised to post strong gains for the week, partly offsetting the sharp pullback seen last week.

Stocks rallied in reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory early this month but gave back ground the following week before rebounding in recent sessions.

The advance by the markets comes despite a pullback by shares of Nvidia (NVDA), as the AI darling is slumping by 2.2 percent.

Nvidia fluctuated before ending the previous session up by 0.5 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings and revenues.

Overall trading appears somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of key U.S. economic data next week, including readings on consumer price inflation preferred by the Federal Reserve.

Among individual stocks, shares of Gap (GAP) have surged after the apparel retailer reported better than expected third quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

Data technology company NetApp (NTAP) also shown a notable move to the upside after reporting fiscal second quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.

Meanwhile, shares of Intuit (INTU) have come under pressure after the financial software company reported better than expected fiscal first quarter results but provided disappointing guidance for the current quarter.

In U.S. economic news, revised data released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved less than previously estimated in the month of November.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for November was downwardly revised to 71.8 from the preliminary reading of 73.0.

While the downward revision surprised economists, who had expected the reading to be upwardly revised to 73.7, the index is still above the final October reading of 70.5.

Despite the unexpected downward revision, the consumer sentiment index is also still at its highest level since hitting 77.2 in April.

Sector News

Computer hardware stocks are extending the rally seen in the previous session, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 2.5 percent to its best intraday level in well over three months.

Significant strength is also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.

Banking stocks have also shown a strong move to the upside, with the KBW Bank Index climbing by 1.3 percent to a two-year intraday high.

Oil service, pharmaceutical and telecom stocks are also seeing notable strength, while utilities stocks are giving back some ground.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.9 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index plunged by 3.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength after moving lower over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.4 basis points at 4.418 percent.