US close: Tech stocks jump to 15-year high

A slightly unexpected rate cut by China's central bank on the heels of Thursday's dovish ECB policy meeting stoked a further push higher in US stocks, with talk of a 'Christmas rally' already doing the rounds.

The Dow Jones Industrials jumped by 158 points or 0.90% to reach the 17,647 point mark, alongside a 22 point gain in the S&P 500 to hit 2,075. The Nasdaq was also to be seen higher, advancing 112 points or 2.28% to 5,032.

The benchmark S&P 500 clocked gains of 2.1% for the latest five-day stretch, for a fourth consecutive weekly advance.

The CBoE volatility index edged higher by 0.07% to reach 14.46 points.

Tech issues at 15-year high

That came as Amazon, Google and Microsoft tacked on a combined $80bn to their market capitalisations, carrying the S&P technology sub-index to a 15-year high.

Amazon rallied 6.23% after soaring 11% late on Thursday, after the e-commerce giant posted an unexpected profit for the third quarter and offered an upbeat outlook for the holiday period.

Alphabet, Google’s holding company, surged 7.7% after announcing its first ever stock buyback plan, revealing it will invest more than $5bn in the programme.

“Profits are up almost 50% in the third quarter over the previous year, and this is whilst Google’s earnings are still wrapped up with costly side projects like self-driving cars, which won’t be the case in January under the new corporate structure,” said CMC Markets’ analyst Jasper Lawler.

Microsoft jumped 10.08% after posting better-than-expected revenue and profit late on Thursday, while Twitter gained 1.34% after its chief executive pledged to give $200m of his own shares to the employee stock pool..

PBoC cuts interest rates

After the close of the Asian session, the People's Bank of China said it will cut its one-year deposit rate and one-year lending rate by 25 basis points each to 1.5% and 4.35%, respectively, as it looks to bolster the slowing economy.

"As usual the PBOC showed its preference for action over rhetoric by cutting interest rates for the sixth time since November," said David Morrison, market analyst at SpreadCo.

"China’s move should help to underpin risk assets as we get further towards the year-end. But the ECB have to come up with the goods at their December meeting. Then the big question is whether the Fed will delay a rate hike until next year."

Meanwhile, Asian and European stocks rallied as both were boosted by the prospect of more stimulus from the European Central Bank.

On Thursday, after the press conference after the rate announcement, ECB President Mario Draghi said the governing council had discussed expanding its bond-buying programme and cutting the rate on reserves held at the central bank.

“Although there might well be some debate as to the direct benefits of a change to already record-low interest rates, this once again proves that under Mario Draghi the ECB is acting rather than just venting rhetoric,” said Alastair McCaig, senior market analyst at IG.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were six basis points higher to 2.09%

West Texas crude futures lost 1.43% to $44.73 a barrel on the NYMEX.

S&P 500 - Risers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $52.87 +10.08%
Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) $81.12 +8.25%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $702.00 +7.70%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $67.60 +7.00%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $80.18 +6.33%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $599.03 +6.23%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $29.99 +6.20%
Allergan plc (AGN) $268.55 +6.13%
Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) $31.49 +5.81%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $719.33 +5.61%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $120.31 -19.28%
VF Corp. (VFC) $63.75 -12.92%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $145.90 -8.70%
PVH Corp. (PVH) $88.17 -8.09%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $14.02 -6.03%
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST) $16.54 -5.86%
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $55.13 -5.57%
Target Corp. (TGT) $72.94 -5.38%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $64.99 -5.14%
Fossil Group Inc (FOSL) $52.00 -4.66%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $52.87 +10.08%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $119.08 +3.10%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $77.03 +2.91%
American Express Co. (AXP) $74.59 +2.88%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $34.05 +2.16%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $115.92 +1.85%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $60.27 +1.82%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $52.88 +1.67%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $112.59 +1.55%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.90 +1.45%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $130.53 -1.42%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $42.79 -1.04%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $58.30 -1.02%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $91.24 -0.41%
General Electric Co. (GE) $29.51 -0.24%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $113.09 -0.14%
3M Co. (MMM) $155.79 -0.13%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $112.28 -0.04%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $52.87 +10.08%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $702.00 +7.70%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $67.60 +7.00%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $599.03 +6.23%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $719.33 +5.61%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $41.15 +4.87%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $33.17 +4.74%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $40.96 +4.60%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $114.37 +4.46%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $147.43 +3.77%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $120.31 -19.28%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $62.53 -3.50%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $37.95 -2.99%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $49.66 -2.70%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $80.43 -1.96%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $96.09 -1.90%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $125.41 -1.70%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $155.74 -1.52%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $209.09 -1.24%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $47.16 -0.99%