Apple juices Wall St. as indexes climb for another week

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Another spurt higher for Apple and other technology stocks helped the Standard & Poor’s 500 set a new record on Friday, and the index closed out an eighth straight week of gains.

It was another mostly calm day for markets after a report showed that the U.S. job market strengthened last month, though not by as much as expected. Bond yields held relatively steady, stock markets around the world rose modestly and the price of oil climbed to its highest level in more than two years.

Shares of Apple, the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, rose 2.6 percent as shoppers streamed into the company’s stores to buy its latest iPhone that debuted on Friday.

Apple CEO Tim Cook greets customers as they prepare to purchase a new iPhone X at an Apple Store on November 3, 2017, in Palo Alto, California. /VCG photo

Apple also gave a better-than-expected sales forecast for the holiday shopping season with its 1,000 US dollars new phone model.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22.93 points, or 0.1 percent, to 23,539.19, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 7.99 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,587.84 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 49.49 points, or 0.74 percent, to 6,764.44.

On the losing side was American International Group, which fell to one of the sharpest losses in the S&P 500 after it reported weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The insurer’s shares dropped 2.98 US dollars, or 4.6 percent, to 62.00 US dollars.

Apple was easily the biggest individual boost to the three indexes. The stock also helped boost the tech sector. SPLRCT (S&P 500 Information Technology Index), which climbed 0.9 percent and led all major S&P 500 groups.

The new iPhone X is displayed at an Apple Store on November 3, 2017, in Palo Alto, California. /VCG photo

“This is obviously the carry-over effect from Apple having a good quarter and a tremendous outlook,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

However, earlier, the demand for the iPhone 8 launched in September were "softer than expected" compared to last year's iPhone 7 series, as The International Business Times(IBT) reported, "making the company exit the quarter with some iPhone 8 inventory, according to the latest figures released Counterpoint Research."

According to IBT, The market research firm believes that the sluggish sales will be compensated after the iPhone X, which starts at 999 US dollars, goes on sale as millions of iPhone users are waiting to upgrade.

iPhone X debut in China

CGTN Digital visited the Apple store in Sanlitun on its iPhone X debut on Friday, read the story below:

iPhone X debuts! Are Chinese queuing for it?

Source(s): AP ,Reuters