US markets staged a solid comeback to recoup much of the steep falls of the previous session that had left both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P500 in the red for the year and had pushed the Nasdaq into correction territory for the first time in two years - Dow up +401-points or +1.63% and snapped a three session losing streak, with Microsoft Corporation (up +5.84%) among the leading performers after the company's strong quarterly result after the close of Wednesday's (24 October) session. The Dow was up +520 points at its session peak. The broader S&P500 rose +1.86%, advancing for the first time in seven sessions. The Consumer Discretionary (up +3.41%) and Information Technology (+3.32%) sectors led 10 of 11 primary sectors higher. Credit rating agency Moody’s Investor Service changed its outlook on the U.S. retail industry to “positive” on Thursday, for the first time since July 2015, buoyed by optimism surrounding the economy and benefits from the retailers’ online investments. Moody’s raised its 2018 sales growth forecast for U.S retail industry between 4.5% and 5.5%, from a prior range of 3.5% to 4.5%. The agency also said online sales, which it expects to generate a “strong” operating profit growth in 2019, will continue to outpace overall retail growth as more companies harness e-commerce, which is still 15% of overall US retail sales. The NASDAQ jumped +2.95%, with Amazon.com Inc rallying +7.1% ahead of their release of their third quarter earnings after the closing bell.
