Market Analysis

US stock futures displayed modest fluctuations on Friday as investors evaluated a series of corporate earnings reports alongside new growth figures from China. Netflix (NASDAQ) exceeded quarterly income expectations, signaling the streaming service's shift towards prioritizing profitability over subscriber growth. Meanwhile, gold reached an all-time high, and Bitcoin experienced a rise driven by strong demand for safe-haven assets.

Futures Flat
US stock futures hovered near the flatline on Friday following a mixed trading session on Wall Street the previous day.

At 03:31 ET (07:31 GMT), the Dow futures had decreased by 30 points or 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures gained 4 points or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose by 33 points or 0.2%.

Healthcare stocks struggled on Thursday, with Elevance Health, formerly known as Anthem, particularly declining after it revised its full-year profit outlook downwards. Other notable losers included Molina Healthcare (NYSE) and Centene (NYSE) Corp.

Conversely, chipmakers like Micron Technology (NASDAQ) and Broadcom (NASDAQ) saw gains, supported by positive results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. However, these gains were mitigated by losses from freight transportation company CSX (NASDAQ) and athleisure brand Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ).

Ultimately, the S&P 500 ended the day slightly lower, reversing earlier gains, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up marginally, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by 161 points or 0.4%.

Netflix Achieves Record Quarterly Profits
Netflix reported quarterly earnings that surpassed expectations, demonstrating its focus on profitability over rapid subscriber acquisition.

During the third quarter, the company added 5.07 million new subscribers, down from 8.76 million during the same period last year, as the effects of its crackdown on password sharing continued to wane. Nonetheless, this figure exceeded Wall Street's projections, leading to a rise in shares during after-hours trading.

More than half of the new subscribers in regions where Netflix offers an advertising-supported tier opted for this plan, indicating resilience in this crucial market segment. This trend helped to counterbalance a series of new releases that Netflix described as "patchier than normal."

Earnings per share for the quarter reached $5.40, with revenue increasing to $9.83 billion, both exceeding forecasts.

Although net income is anticipated to decline in the current quarter, Netflix plans to implement price hikes in Italy and Spain to bolster revenue, having already raised prices in other markets.

China's Economy Grows 4.6% in Third Quarter
China's economy showed slower growth in the third quarter, as per official data released on Friday, underscoring the challenges faced by Beijing in revitalizing sluggish economic activity.

China's gross domestic product expanded by 4.6% year-on-year for the July-September period, meeting expectations but down from 4.7% in the previous quarter. This marks the lowest growth rate in 18 months and falls short of the government's full-year target of 5%.

In response, Beijing has introduced several stimulus measures in recent weeks, marking its most concentrated efforts to bolster economic growth amid persistent deflation, weak consumer spending, and a prolonged downturn in the property market.

Chinese equities initially dipped following the release of this data but later recovered their losses after the People's Bank of China initiated new lending programs aimed at encouraging share buybacks and equity purchases.

Gold Hits Record High
Gold prices reached a record high in Asian trading on Friday, extending a multi-year upward trend fueled by strong demand for safe-haven assets.

Factors such as a tightly contested US presidential election, broader economic uncertainties, and geopolitical tensions have bolstered support for gold.

Spot gold increased by 0.4% to $2,706 per troy ounce, while December gold futures rose by 0.5% to $2,720.15 per ounce.

Bitcoin, which some investors view as a similar safe-haven asset to gold, also experienced a rise on Friday.

Oil Prices Rise
Oil prices climbed slightly on Friday but remained on course for their most significant weekly loss in over a month due to concerns about demand.

As of 03:32 ET, Brent crude rose by 0.3% to $74.66 per barrel, and US crude (WTI) increased by 0.3% to $70.89 per barrel.

Both benchmarks recorded gains on Thursday for the first time in five sessions, following data that indicated a decline in US inventories last week. However, they are still poised for a roughly 6% drop this week, marking the steepest weekly decline since September 2.

Both OPEC and the International Energy Agency recently lowered their forecasts for global oil demand, primarily due to fears of economic weakness in China, the world's top oil importer.

Paraphrasing text from "Investing" all rights reserved by the original author.