The US markets ended significantly higher on Friday as another batch of upbeat earnings news contributed to the continued strength on Wall Street, with financial giant Goldman Sachs (GS) posting a strong gain after reporting much better than expected third quarter results. Buying interest was also generated in reaction to a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected increase in U.S. retail sales in the month of September. The report said retail sales climbed by 0.7 percent in September after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in August. The continued sales growth came as a surprise to market participants, who had expected retail sales to edge down by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales advanced by 0.8 percent in September after spiking by an upwardly revised 2.0 percent in August. Street had expected ex-auto sales to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.8 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of September. The Labor Department said import prices rose by 0.4 percent in September after dipping by 0.3 percent in August. Street had expected import prices to climb by 0.6 percent. The report also showed export prices inched up by 0.1 percent in September after rising by 0.4 percent in the previous month. Export prices were also expected to increase by 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the University of Michigan unexpectedly showing a modest deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of October. The report showed the consumer sentiment index slipped to 71.4 in October from 72.8 in September. The dip surprised market participants, who had expected the index to inch up to 73.1.
Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 382.2 points or 1.09 percent to 35,294.76, Nasdaq rose 73.91 points or 0.5 percent to 14,897.34 and S&P 500 was up by 33.11 points or 0.75 percent to 4,471.37.
