By Victor Reklaitis and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks advanced early Friday,
adding to their big weekly gains.
Investors appeared to shrug off worries about New York's first
Ebola case, which had weighed on U.S. stock futures. Sentiment got
a lift from better-than-expected quarterly results from companies
such as Procter & Gamble Co. and United Parcel Service Inc.
The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 5 points, or 0.3%, to 1,956. The
benchmark is on track for a weekly gain of 3.7%, having bounced
back after slumping to a six-month intraday low, after last week's
choppy trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 41 points, or 0.3%,
to 16,719, as the blue-chip barometer eyed a 2.1% gain for the
week. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) tacked on 15 points, or 0.3%, to
4,467. The tech-heavy index is on pace for a 4.9% advance for the
week.
Investors may take a cautious approach Friday ahead of this
weekend's release of results from the stress tests for European
banks, which come amid a raft of data showing slowing growth in
Europe. The release is expected on Sunday, although a Bloomberg
report on Friday said 25 banks could fail the test. Check out: 5
things to know about the ECB stress tests
On Thursday, strong results from Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and 3M
Co. (MMM) helped fuel solid gains for stocks, as the Dow
industrials enjoyed 217-point advance.
Today's key headlines: U.S. stock futures, as well as the dollar
(DXY), fell overnight following news late Thursday that a New York
doctor has contracted the deadly Ebola virus, marking the first
such case in the city. Treasurys strengthened "as [the] Ebola-scare
in New York spurred the safe-haven demand for bonds," ICICI Bank
wrote in a note.
At 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday, a report on sales of new
single-family homes for September is due. Economists polled by
MarketWatch expect sales of 455,000.
Also around the corner is next week's Federal Reserve policy
meeting. The Fed is expected to end its third-round of bond buying,
which had been aimed at helping the U.S. economy emerge from the
2008 financial crisis.
"The central question then that traders will be asking (assuming
Ebola looks to be contained) will be whether the Fed removes the
'considerable period' for keeping the funds rate low," said Chris
Weston, chief market strategist at IG, referring to the Fed's
policy statement in a Friday note. It's likely the Fed will
"continue to see rates staying low for a considerable period of
time and remain confident in its economic outlook, thus sending a
message of confidence to the market," Weston wrote.
Movers & Shakers: Procter & Gamble (PG) shares climbed
2% after the consumer-goods heavyweight said it plans to get out of
its Duracell battery business and posted adjusted quarterly
earnings that matched expectations.
Ford Motor Co.'s (F) quarterly profit fell to $835 million, and
pretax profit fell to $1.18 billion, but the figures beat Wall
Street's projections. Shares fell 2%. Meanwhile, shipping giant UPS
(UPS) gained 2% after its quarterly results surpassed estimates,
and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares picked up 3% after the company
posted quarterly profit and revenue that topped forecasts.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) dropped 7% after the online retailer
reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss late
Thursday.
(Read more about today's jumpiest stocks in the Movers &
Shakers column
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ford-ups-nasdaq-earnings-in-focus-2014-10-24.)
Other markets: In Asia, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 1% but
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.1%. European stocks moved lower.
Gold futures (GCZ4) were higher, while oil futures (CLZ4) lost
ground.
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