US open: Tech earnings lift sentiment, oil majors deliver mixed results

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the green early on Friday as investors digested fresh quarterly updates from oil and gas heavyweights. As of 1405 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.16% at 47,599.89, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.48% to 6,855.07 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 1.38% firmer at 23,906.53.

The Dow opened 77.77 points higher on Friday, taking a bite out of losses recorded in the previous session after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell hinted that the central bank may not be looking to cut interest rates again at its December meeting.

Tech earnings were in focus at the open on Friday after Apple posted stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday evening and issued a bullish forecast for its December quarter, as services and Mac sales offset softer-than-expected iPhone revenues, while shares in online retail giant Amazon rallied in pre-market trading after it posted third-quarter earnings that came in ahead of expectations on the back of a sharp acceleration in cloud revenue.

In terms of Friday's earnings, Exxon Mobil reported third-quarter revenues that fell short of Wall Street expectations, as a lower oil price environment weighed on revenues, while Chevron posted a third-quarter profit of $3.5bn on the back of higher production and despite lower oil prices, and Colgate-Palmolive lowered its full-year sales outlook after third-quarter adjusted earnings per share came in slightly ahead of analyst expectatations at $0.91.

Also in focus, streaming giant Netflix traded higher after the company announced a 10-for-1 stock split, while shares in semiconductor giant Nvidia headed north after revealed that it will supply over 260,000 of its latest articial intelligence chips to South Korea's government.

On the macro front, the Institute for Supply Management's Chicago Business Barometer rose to 43.8 in October, up from 40.6 in September and ahead of market expectations for a reading of 42.3.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $40.42 0.65%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $72.69 -0.30% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $291.39 -0.21% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $270.93 -0.17%

S&P 500 - Risers

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF) $54.31 18.88% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $111.58 12.70% Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $248.32 11.42% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $152.61 10.48% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $230.44 2.87% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $1,116.17 2.49% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $206.93 1.99% Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $258.88 1.59% Apache Corp. (APA) $22.75 1.56% Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $97.21 1.27%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $220.43 -4.54% DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $12.31 -2.22% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $135.40 -2.19% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $81.51 -1.97% eBay Inc. (EBAY) $82.13 -1.92% Alliant Energy Corp. (LNT) $66.89 -1.53% Mattel Inc. (MAT) $18.33 -1.40% TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $15.97 -1.39% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $56.98 -1.37% LKQ Corporation (LKQ) $30.74 -1.36%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $111.58 12.70% Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $248.32 11.42% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $152.61 10.48% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $230.44 2.87% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $1,116.17 2.49% Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $12.17 2.05% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $206.93 1.99% Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,403.24 1.80% Tesla Inc (TSLA) $447.76 1.74% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $235.26 1.16%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $220.43 -4.54% DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $12.31 -2.22% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $135.40 -2.19% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $81.51 -1.97% eBay Inc. (EBAY) $82.13 -1.92% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $32.85 -1.54% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $56.98 -1.37% Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $51.21 -1.35% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $120.20 -1.32% Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $26.99 -1.23%