All three US markets surged on Thursday as earnings season comes to an end, with Latin American Amazon, MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) delivering a solid earnings results.
The result was an outperformance by the Nasdaq and Dow Jones, up 0.8% each, compared to a 0.6% gain in the S&P 500.
Positive news about the economy continues, with unemployment benefit claims falling by 14,000 to 385,000 and continuing claims falling below 3 million people.
Zillow, Booking.com surge on higher trade
Hotel reservation group Booking.com (NASDAQ: BKNG) and real estate platform Zillow (NASDAQ: Z) were the biggest reports, with the former reporting a 458% increase in room night reservations for the 12 months to June, the first such year-on-year growth since before the pandemic.
This comes after an 87% fall in bookings, reflecting US$22 billion in transaction volume and a tripling of revenue to US$2.16 billion for the beleaguered company often seen as a leading indicator for consumer confidence and the economy.
The US’s version of Realestate.com.au, called Zillow smashed expectations and is now flagging its first US$2 billion revenue quarter.
The group reported a near doubling of revenue to US$1.31 billion on the back of a 70% increase in home listings. The platform’s unique Zillow Offers option, through which they actual become a buyer of last resort, also saw revenue jump 71% as remote working and low interest rates converge for a property boom.
US stock market movers
- Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) up 15.3%
- MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) up 13.8%
- Hubspot (NSYE: HUBS) up 11.9%
- Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) down 9.7%
- Fivrr (NSYE: FVRR) down 24.1%
- Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) down 27.6%
Despite the positive lead from US markets, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to open broadly flat on Friday. For all the latest, check out Rask Media’s ASX 200 morning report.
