The U.S. stock market was up on Friday with all the benchmark indexes in positive territory as the fourth-quarter corporate earnings season is starting.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN, Financial) traded higher on Friday after SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Youssef Squali raised his price target for the stock to $1,400 from $1,270. He justified the change in a letter to clients, highlighting Amazon’s “maniacal focus on the customer” and leveraging technology innovation to disrupt multiple industries, including commerce, entertainment and information technology. He also commented on the differentiation and sustainable advantages that “should continue to enable the company to grow disproportionately faster than peers, gain market share in several segments of the global economy and sustain above-peers valuation multiples for years to come.”
Gainers
- Seagate Technology PLC (STX, Financial)
- Kohls Corp. (KSS, Financial)
- BlackRock Inc. (BLK, Financial)
- Target Corp. (TGT, Financial)
- BorgWarner Inc. (BWA, Financial)
Losers
- Facebook Inc. (FB, Financial)
- Varian Medical Systems Inc. (VAR, Financial)
- Digital Realty Trust Inc. (DLR, Financial)
- HCP Inc. (HCP, Financial)
- Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock market indexes traded higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 jumped 0.20%, Spain's IBEX 35 gained 0.26%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.52% and Germany's Dax climbed 0.32%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.24%, while India’s BSE Sensex inched up 0.26%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.94% and China's SSE Composite gained 0.10%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
