Stock Market News For October 31, 2016

Benchmarks finished in the red on Friday despite a strong third-quarter GDP reading following news that the FBI will start a probe of Hillary Clinton’s new emails. FBI Director James Comey said he has come to know of certain emails which might be crucial for FBI’s investigation on Clinton for using a private email server while she was the state secretary. Additionally, investors also digested a mixed bag of earnings results. For the week, the Dow managed to close in the green, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended in negative territory.

For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) decreased 0.1%, to close at 18,161.19. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to close at 2,126.41. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 5,190.10, losing 0.5%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 5.4% to settle at 16.19. A total of around 7.31 billion shares were traded on Friday, higher than the last 20-session average of 6.34 billion shares. Decliners outpaced advancing stocks on the NYSE. For 58% stocks that declined, 39% advanced.

What Weighed On the Benchmarks?

In a letter to lawmakers, FBI Director James Comey said that in connection with the investigation “of former Secretary Clinton's personal email server,” the FBI discovered existence of new emails relating to the investigation. Comey added that "although the FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant,” he did not mention any specific time frame for the completion of this investigation. This in turn resulted in market uncertainty and eventually weighed on all the major indexes.

Economic Data on Focus

U.S. economy’s growth at a higher than expected pace in the second quarter boosted investor sentiment. According to the “advance” estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the third quarter output of goods and services increased at an annual rate of 2.9%, registering its best percentage increase in two years. It was also better than the consensus estimate of 2.5% growth.

Consumer spending rose at a medium pace of 2.1%, while exports jumped 10%, posting its best percentage gain in three years. Strong increase in soybean exports to China helped boost the overall exports.

Mixed Earnings Report

Shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (GOOGL) advanced 0.3% after its third quarter earnings per share of $7.25 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.64 on the back of strong revenue growth. (Read More: Alphabet Beats on Q3 Earnings as Revenues Grow)

However, slump in Amazon’s (AMZN) shares outweighed Alphabet’s gains. Shares of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 5.2% after its third-quarter earnings per share of 52 cents significantly missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 85 cents. (Read More: Amazon Q3 Earnings Hurt by Investments, AWS Solid )

Amazon possesses a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here .

ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) posted third-quarter earnings of 63 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3 cents. However, its shares declined 2.5% after its quarterly revenue of $58,677 million came in below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $60,562 million. The top line also fell for nine consecutive quarters. (Read More: ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) Earnings Beat on Project StartUps in Q3 )

Meanwhile, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Corp’s (CVX) shares climbed 3.9% announcing third quarter earnings per share of 68 cents, higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 39 cents. The company posted gains last quarter, after three consecutive quarterly losses. (Read More: Chevron Q3 Earnings Beat as Cost Cut Offsets Low Price )

A total of 291 S&P 500 members have reported third quarter earnings results. Total earnings for these companies are up 2.2% from the same period last year on 1.3% higher revenues, with 73.5% beating EPS estimates and 57.4% coming ahead of revenue estimates (read more: An End to the Earnings Recession).

Weekly Roundup

For the week, the Dow rose 0.1% while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq decreased 0.7% and 1.3%, respectively. A number of merger and acquisition news had a positive impact on the markets. In earnings news, T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) posted upbeat earnings results, but poor earnings performance from Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) (WHR), General Motors (NYSE:GM) (GM), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) (CAT) and 3M ( MMM) weighed on the benchmarks.

Moreover, tech giant, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Inc’s (AAPL) fiscal fourth quarter earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but both the top and bottom line were down year-over-year. Also, rise in jump in bond yields during the week resulted in selloff in defensive sectors like real estate and utilities.

Stocks That Made Headlines

AB InBev Stock Down on Q3 Earnings Miss, Drab View

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD) posted third-quarter 2016 results, wherein both top and bottom lines fell short of our estimates, alongside declining year over year. ( Read More)

FEMSA Posts Solid Q3 Earnings on Segmental Efficacy

Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (FMX), alias FEMSA, posted third-quarter 2016 net majority income, better than the year-ago figure. ( Read More)

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) to Buy NXP Semiconductors for $47 Billion

Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), the largest mobile chipset manufacturer globally, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Netherlands-based chipset giant NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) (NXPI). ( Read More)

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Q3 Earnings & Sales Top; Enbrel Hurts Stock

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) reported third-quarter 2016 earnings of $3.02 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.79. (Read More)

LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates

LinkedIn Corporation (LNKD) reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter of 2016. ( Read More)

Zacks' Best Investment Ideas for Long-Term Profit

Today you can gain access to long-term trades with double and triple-digit profit potential rarely available to the public. Starting now, you can look inside our stocks under $10, home run and value stock portfolios, plus more. Want a peek at this private information? Click here >>