All three US markets finished higher on Thursday, the Dow Jones up 0.4%, S&P 500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq only slightly at 0.1%.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was a key contributor to the rally given it is the US’ largest public company. Apple shares finished around 1% higher after the group announced a loosening of restrictions on its App Store that will allow third-party apps to avoid paying commissions to Apple for some in-app subscriptions.
It was a great day for the likes of Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), which were up over 6% and 1%, respectively.
Sticking with the FAANGS, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has been levied a US$267 million fine by the Ireland Government for breaking data protection rules, sending shares close to 2 % lower.
Finally, Bill Gross, founder of PIMCO, has suggested those funds buying long-term US Government bonds today belong in the “investment garbage can”.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US stocks performed overnight.
- Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH) up 6.1%
- Unity (NYSE: U) up 5.3%
- Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) up 2.9%
- Visa (NYSE: V) down 2.6%
- Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) down 5.2%
- Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) down 9.3%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to follow US markets higher at the open on Friday. For all the latest, check out Rask Media’s ASX 200 morning report.
