- The Nasdaq rose 0.5% on Friday to close the session at 14,897 points.
- Amazon jumped 3.3% after US retail sales rose unexpectedly for September.
- Johnson & Johnson rose on a committee advising FDA to approve booster.
The US markets closed higher on Friday and for the week across the three key indices in the best week for the markets this month, boosted by strong corporate quarterly earnings reports and positive economic data.
The Dow Jones rose 1.09% to finish the trading day up 382 points to close at 35,295 points.
The tech heavy NASDAQ rose 0.5% to finish the trading day up 74 points to close at 14,897 points with Amazon and Tesla gaining 3.31% and 3.02% respectively.
One bitcoin is worth US$61,384 going into the Asian trading day. The surge in Bitcoin?s price follows ProShares? report late Friday that its Bitcoin futures ETF will begin trading this week.
The Australian dollar is stronger against the major currencies and is buying 74.26 US cents.
Amazon shares jumped 3.31% on Friday after the e-commerce giant benefitted from an unexpected rise in US retail sales for September. Retail sales in the US rose 0.7% for September, and 13.9% YoY which was well above analyst expectations of a 0.2% decline for the month. Standing as the biggest e-commerce company in the US, Amazon shares were boosted by the rise in sales.
Shares in Johnson & Johnson rose just under 1% on Friday after a committee advising the US FDA reviewed J&J data supporting the need for a booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine. The committee voted unanimously to recommend the US FDA to authorise an extra dose of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine for any adult that received a first dose of the vaccine, at least 2 months after receiving the first dose.
And nine schools in the UK are introducing facial recognition technology payments to speed up lunchtime canteen queues and enhance touch-less payment systems during the pandemic.