Stocks Continue To Benefit From Upbeat Earnings News - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session notably higher, stocks are seeing some further upside in early trading on Friday. The major averages have all climbed into positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a significant upward move.

Currently, the major averages all remain in positive territory, although the Nasdaq is outperforming its counterparts. While the Nasdaq is up 28.45 points or 0.7 percent at 3,957.41, the Dow is up 30.18 points or 0.2 percent at 15,539.39 and the S&P 500 is up 3.93 points or 0.2 percent at 1,756.00.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to the latest earnings reports, which have drawn increased attention since the end of the government shutdown.

Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) are posting standout gains after reporting their quarterly results, contributing to the strong upward move by the Nasdaq.

Microsoft reported first quarter adjusted earnings of $0.63 per share, ahead of the $0.54 per share consensus estimate. Revenues rose 16 percent to $18.53 billion, exceeding the $17.79 billion consensus estimate.

Amazon reported a third quarter net loss of $0.09 per share on net sales of $17.09 billion, up 24 percent year-over-year. The loss was in line, while the revenues exceeded estimates.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing that durable goods orders rose by much more than expected, although the growth was largely due to a jump in orders for transportation equipment.

The report said durable goods orders jumped 3.7 percent in September after inching up by a revised 0.2 percent in August.

Economists had expected orders to increase by about 2.5 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

However, excluding the surge in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders edged down by 0.1 percent in September compared to a 0.4 percent drop in August.

The drop in ex-transportation orders came as a surprise to economists, who had been expecting a 0.5 percent increase.

Software stocks are seeing notable strength following the upbeat earnings news from Microsoft, although most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 2.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended the day down by 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index have both inched up by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly higher after ending the previous session in the red. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1 basis point at 2.512.