US stock markets continued their strong recent run, making it nine of the last 10 sessions on positive ground.
Both the Nasdaq and Dow Jones finished 0.1% higher overnight as industrials General Electric (NYSE: GE) rallied whilst the S&P 500 gained 0.2% despite a near 4% fall in Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) shares on a weaker outlook.
Facebook beats as Apple privacy bites
The social media giant delivered another strong quarter but guided to a more difficult outlook, blaming Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) new privacy rules for what is likely to be a fall in its advertising revenue.
The move will make it more difficult for advertisers to target Facebook’s 2.91 billion users, which grew 6% for the quarter.
Revenue came in 10% below the US$34 billion expected. However, earnings close to tripled from last year’s low base.
The company announced going forward it will split out its virtual reality business as it doubles down on being the key platform for the youth of the world.
GE earnings jump
Shares in GE rallied strongly, gaining on the back of a reversal of last year’s loss to post a strong profit for the quarter. This came despite revenue continuing to fall, down 0.5%, which has been a common story throughout earnings season.
Elsewhere, US property markets continued their tear, with new home sales up 14% in September and prices close to 20% higher year on year.
US stock market movers
These US stocks were among the biggest movers on Tuesday.
- United Parcel Services (NYSE: UPS) up 6.8%
- NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) up 6.7%
- Arista Networks (NYSE: ANET) up 4.6%
- Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) down 4.3%
- Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) down 5.5%
- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) down 11.8%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is expected to flat on Wednesday. For a round-up of the latest news, check out my ASX 200 morning report.