Investing.com – Stocks were higher after the open bell on Friday as investors remain optimistic after the economy expanded more than expected in the third quarter.
The S&P 500 increased 12 points or 0.51% as of 10:05 AM ET (3:05 PM GMT) while the Dow composite rose 16 points or 0.7% . Tech heavy NASDAQ Composite gained 96 points or 1.47% amid a flurry of upbeat earnings results.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis said that the economy expanded by a registered a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.0% growth in the third quarter. Analysts had expected GDP growth to ease to 2.5% due to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Tech stocks were among the top performers, with Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) gaining 10.17% after its earnings results came in higher than forecast. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) surged 8.75% after its third quarter financial results beat expectations, while Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 6.42% as its earnings also were better than analysts expected.
Oil company Chevron (NYSE:CVX) slipped 3.80% after its third quarter results came in lower than expected while JC Penney Company Inc Holding (NYSE:JCP) slumped 19.13% after it slashed its earnings forecast and engineering firm Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) fell 18.17% after a bleak earnings result.
In Europe, stocks increased near five month highs amid strong earnings results. In Germany the DAX shot up 67 points or 0.52% while France’s CAC 40 jumped 32 points or 0.60% and in London the FTSE 100 inched forward two points or 0.03%. Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 178 points or 1.73% amid political uncertainty as the central government moves to exert control over Catalonia. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 increased 10 points or 0.28%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.12% to $1,268.02 a troy ounce while crude oil futures gained 1.04% to $53.19 a barrel. The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, increased 0.50% to 95.02.