By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - Wall Street moved higher Friday, as an Apple-infused rally in tech and positive earnings helped offset weakness in energy as oil prices fell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.73%, or 202 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.39%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.46%.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) surged 3% to offset losses in other big tech names such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) as investors digested signs of higher demand forecasts for the tech giant's upcoming slate of new 5G- enabled iPhones.
"Our recent Asia supply chain checks conducted by our TMT team show a discernible uptick in forecasts for iPhone 12, which bodes well for demand trends heading into this highly anticipated October launch," Wedbush said in a note.
Energy, however, proved an exception to the move higher as oil prices slipped on concerns that a slower pace of economic recovery could hurt demand.
But not every sector of the economy is flagging a potential slowdown. Housing remains robust, while a survey on business activity also surprised to the upside.
The Commerce Department said existing home sales rose by a record 24.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million units., topping forecasts for a 14.7% rise.
"Given the continued plunge in mortgage rates, there is probably further upside for demand in August," Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) said.
IHS Markit data showed flash Composite Purchasing Managers' index of 54.7 for August, above forecasts of 51.3.
Upbeat quarterly corporate earnings also supported investor sentiment on stocks.
Deere (NYSE:DE) advanced more than 5% after the company reported fiscal third-quarter results that beat on both the top and bottom lines.
Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) also delivered quarterly results for the second quarter that topped analysts' consensus, sending its share price up 1%