Major U.S. stock indices closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both recording six consecutive months of gains, while the Nasdaq Composite extended its winning streak to seven months. The S&P 500 rose 2.27% in October, marking its longest monthly winning streak since August 2021. The Dow gained 2.51% for the month, and the Nasdaq surged 4.7%, both achieving their longest monthly advances since January 2018.
At market close, the Dow rose 40.75 points (0.09%) to 47,562.87, the Nasdaq climbed 143.81 points (0.61%) to 23,724.96, and the S&P 500 added 17.86 points (0.26%) to 6,840.20. Among notable stocks, Amazon (AMZN.US) jumped 9.58%, Tesla (TSLA.US) gained 3.74%, while Nvidia (NVDA.US) dipped 0.2% and Meta Platforms (META.US) fell 2.72%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 0.53%, with NIO (NIO.US) up 3.46% and Alibaba (BABA.US) down over 2%. For the week, the Dow advanced 0.75%, the Nasdaq increased 2.24%, and the S&P 500 rose 0.71%.
In Europe, major indices closed lower: Germany's DAX30 fell 0.65% to 23,981.36, the UK's FTSE 100 declined 0.41% to 9,720.50, and France's CAC40 dropped 0.44% to 8,121.07.
Oil prices edged higher, with December WTI crude futures rising 0.7% to $60.98 per barrel and January Brent crude gaining 0.6% to $64.77. OPEC+ is expected to agree on another modest production increase of 137,000 barrels per day for December amid concerns about potential oversupply next year.
In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin rose over 1% to $10.9, while Ethereum climbed 2.54% to above $3,900. The U.S. dollar index gained 0.31% to 99.526.
Spot gold fell 0.55% to $4,002.62 per ounce. Morgan Stanley projected gold could reach $4,500 by mid-2026, citing strong ETF and central bank demand, though warning of potential volatility risks.
Federal Reserve Governor Waller stated that economic data supports a December rate cut, emphasizing that inflation is returning to target levels. However, other Fed officials expressed caution about excessive easing, with some suggesting they would have opposed the recent rate cut if they had voting power this year.
In corporate news, Elon Musk hinted Tesla might unveil a flying car prototype by year-end, describing it as surpassing "all James Bond vehicles." Meanwhile, Coinbase (COIN.US) is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for about $2 billion to expand its stablecoin business.
Analysts raised price targets for several stocks: HSBC increased Apple's (AAPL.US) target to $250 from $220, while UBS lifted Amazon's (AMZN.US) target to $310 from $279, maintaining a Buy rating.