Wall St boosted by tech, Amazon results

Wall Street is up after a surge in the tech sector and a rally in Amazon shares helped push the Nasdaq to its best day in nearly a year. 

The S&P technology index led the way higher, up 2.91 per cent.  The index notched its best day since March 1, 2016 and is up nearly 35 per cent on the year versus the 15 per cent gain in the S&P 500. 

Google-parent Alphabet gained 4.26 per cent as its revenue got a boost from advertising sales.  Microsoft jumped 6.41 per cent after the world's largest software company reported further gains from its cloud computing services. 

Also lifting the sector were shares of Apple, which rose 3.58 per cent after the company allayed concerns of muted demand for its 10th anniversary phone. 

Intel soared 7.38 per cent after its quarterly results topped estimates and the chipmaker raised its full-year forecasts. 

Amazon, up 13.22 per cent, was responsible for the biggest boost to the S&P 500 after reporting a quarterly sales surge.  Its gains helped lift the consumer discretionary sector 1.60 per cent to its best daily performance since December 7. 

"Anyone who is drawing parallels to the tech bubble of 1999 has to at least consider that this rally in those large names is really fuelled in large part by earnings, not just hope," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago. 

"They are the ones that everyone wants to own, has to own because they are the ones reporting the best earnings.  They definitely came through, that is very positive." 

"There are certainly similarities between the tech bubble and now, but the underpinnings of this rally are still a lot more solid." 

Adding to the positive sentiment was the third-quarter GDP data that showed the US economy unexpectedly maintained a brisk pace of growth, at a 3 per cent annual rate, despite a hurricane-led drop in consumer spending and construction activities. 

A report about President Donald Trump favouring Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as the head of the US central bank also provided a boost for stocks. 

In Powell's potential appointment, investors see a continuation of the current monetary policy. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.33 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 23,434.19, the S&P 500 gained 20.67 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 2,581.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 144.49 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 6,701.26. 

For the week, the Dow rose 0.5 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq advanced 1.1 per cent.  The S&P has notched gains for seven straight weeks, its longest weekly winning streak in three years. 

Earnings growth for the third quarter is now 6.7 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters data. 

Of the 273 companies that have posted earnings, 74 per cent have topped expectations, compared with the 72 per cent beat rate over the past four quarters. 

Not all earnings were positive, however.  Chevron's 4.14 per cent fall weighed on the S&P and the Dow after the oil company's profit missed estimates. 

Merck dropped 6.05 per cent after the company reported a revenue drop due to a cyber attack and loss of market share for many of its older drugs. 

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.62-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.70-to-1 ratio favoured advancers. 

About 7.43 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, above the 6.04 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.