US close: Stocks extend two-month highs as rate rise horizon fades

Wall Street closed the week in upbeat mood as mixed micro- and macroeconomic data left traders confident the Federal Reserve will hold fire on rates for longer.

At the closing bell, New York's main indices recovered from a mid-afternoon slump to continue the positive momentum from Thursday, following London and the main European indices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.43% at 17,215.97, extending its best close since 19 August, the S&P 500 was 0.46% higher, also extending similar highs, and the Nasdaq was 0.34% higher.

Roughly 50 companies of the way through the S&P 500 third-quarter earnings season, and 75% of corporates have reported better-than-expected earnings per share, IG's senior market analyst Alastair McCaig pointed out, though sales figures over that same period however have been considerably less impressive.

"All of this points towards a US corporate picture telling us the same thing as economic releases, that the FOMC should be feeling no increased pressure to raise rates just yet."

Macroeconomic data released during the session further backed up this point.

US industrial output declines

Job opening numbers missed forecast in August, according to the Labor Department, with the number of job openings down from 5.67m to 5.37m in July compared with analysts' expectations for a 5.58m reading.

On the other side of the coin, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index beat expectations in October, with the index falling to a preliminary reading of 92.1 in October from 87.2 in September, compared with analysts' expectations for a 89.0 reading.

"The expectations index is at a level that, historically, has been consistent with real consumption growth of around 4%, which is pretty robust," said Capital Economics' chief US economist Paul Ashworth.

Ashworth was also reassured by data released ahead of the bell that showed industrial production in the US declined slightly less than expected in September.

According to figures released by the Federal Reserve, industrial output fell 0.2% last month from an upwardly revised 0.1% decline in the previous month and compared with analysts' expectations for a 0.3% decline.

Meanwhile, capacity utilisation fell to 77.5% from an upwardly revised 77.8% in August, marginally above the 77.4% expected.

"The decline in industrial production in September was a much smaller fall than we were expecting, but it nonetheless illustrates the impact that the stronger dollar is having on manufacturing and the impact that the slump in energy prices is having on mining output," said Ashworth.

In company news, General Electric rose 3.10% after posting better-than-expected profit and revenue before the opening bell.

Mattel shares bounced strongly after an early drop after the toy company missed top- and bottom-line third quarter earnings expectations. Falling Barbie and other toy sales are hurting the toymaker as kids turn to iPad games and competition from Disney’s own character dolls instead, but investors seemed turned around by management's turnaround rhetoric and that fact that if the major impact of weakening foreign currencies was ignored, the results were close to expectations.

Advanced Micro Devices declined 0.85% after the chip maker posted worse-than-expected earnings late on Thursday.

The dollar was broadly flat against the yen and the pound and bounced back against the euro, while gold futures slid 0.01% to $1,182.95.

Oil prices staged a solid rebound, with West Texas Intermediate rising 2.23% to $47.44 a barrel, while Brent climbed 1.37% to $50.42 a barrel.

"The ongoing weak sentiment towards the Dollar has refused to have a positive impact on WTI which has suffered four successive days of declines this week," said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga.

"The latest inventory report showed another huge stockpile and will further the continual concerns regarding oversupply."

S&P 500 - Risers
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $23.89 +6.04%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $34.09 +5.61%
Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) $72.18 +4.20%
General Electric Co. (GE) $28.98 +3.39%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $77.78 +3.25%
Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) $45.30 +3.12%
Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW) $243.17 +3.00%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $140.57 +2.92%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $151.21 +2.76%
Windstream Holdings Inc (WIN) $6.85 +2.70%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $18.74 -28.50%
Kansas City Southern (KSU) $87.37 -10.85%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $3.72 -8.37%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $5.06 -7.83%
W.W. Grainger Inc. (GWW) $207.65 -6.31%
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $10.63 -6.01%
Fluor Corp. (FLR) $44.66 -5.84%
Joy Global Inc. (JOY) $16.28 -5.24%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $11.00 -4.93%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $39.56 -4.54%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
General Electric Co. (GE) $28.98 +3.39%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $51.48 +1.50%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $130.47 +1.30%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $82.48 +1.23%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $98.24 +1.12%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $104.82 +1.12%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $47.51 +1.06%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $57.27 +1.01%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $34.41 +0.97%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $105.90 +0.90%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $69.68 -1.62%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $58.89 -0.74%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $111.04 -0.73%
3M Co. (MMM) $148.70 -0.33%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $93.00 -0.19%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $119.98 -0.16%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $23.89 +6.04%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $34.09 +5.61%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $4.30 +4.88%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $227.01 +2.58%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $88.67 +2.19%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $39.74 +2.11%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $50.30 +1.95%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $45.85 +1.93%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $43.55 +1.92%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $86.22 +1.88%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $39.56 -4.54%
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $50.80 -3.73%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $98.99 -2.08%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $79.51 -1.98%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $60.19 -1.78%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $52.53 -1.78%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $37.49 -1.63%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $49.98 -1.47%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $28.49 -1.28%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $114.32 -1.27%