Stocks Rise, Netflix Soars To Record Highs, Oil Falls Below $70, Gold Miners Rally: What's Driving Markets Friday?

Benzinga · 10/18 17:49

Wall Street was in positive territory in Friday midday trading, buoyed by upbeat quarterly earnings reports that kept investor sentiment bullish.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) surged 10% to fresh record highs after delivering a strong earnings beat. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%, pushing its weekly performance into positive territory for the sixth consecutive week.

The S&P 500 and Dow also edged higher, both on track for the sixth straight week of gains, with the Dow flirting with all-time highs.

Gold miners led industry performance as gold prices hit new record levels above $2,700 per ounce. The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) soared over 4%, hitting the highest level in over four years. Friday is poised to mark the fourth straight session of gains for both gold and silver, with silver jumping over 3%, heading for its best day since late September.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices tumbled more than 2%, slipping below the $70-per-barrel mark. WTI is down over 8% for the week, on pace for its worst weekly decline since January.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) climbed 2.8% to above $68,800.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices Price 1-day % change
Nasdaq 100 20,352.25 0.8%
S&P 500 5,870.75 0.5%
Dow Jones 43,300.82 0.1%
Russell 2000 2,279.45 -0.1%
Updated at 12:55 p.m. ET

According to Benzinga Pro data:

  • The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) rose 0.5% to $585.12.
  • The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) inched 0.1% higher to $433.01.
  • The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.8% to $495.21.
  • The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) stalled at $226.03.
  • The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) outperformed, up 0.9%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lagged, down 0.6%.

Friday’s Stock Movers

  • Stocks moving in reaction to earnings reports were Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG), up over 9%, Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CCK), up over 4%, Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL), down 6%, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), down 2.4%, Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG) down 0.4%, Schlumberger N.V. (NYSE:SLB) down 3.3%, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), down 1.7%, Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY), down 1% and Comerica Inc. (NYSE:CMA), up 4%.
  • Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LW) soared 10% following a report indicating that activist investor Jana Partners has built a 5% stake in the company.
  • CVS Health Corp. (NYSE:CVS) fell over 6% after the company replaced its CEO and cut its third-quarter outlook.

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