It was still the best month in four years

 

U.S. stock indexes finished with their strongest monthly performances in four years on today (10/30), even as they dipped for the day amid a mixed bag of earnings reports.

For October, all three major indexes posted their biggest percentage increases since October 2011, with the S&P 500 rising 8.3 percent, led by energy and materials, while a measure of volatility fell.

On Friday, CVS Health fell 4.8 percent to $98.78 after a disappointing profit forecast for 2016.

The S&P 500 energy index was the best performing sector, rising 0.7 percent.

The Fed signaled on Wednesday a rate hike in December was still possible.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 92.26 points, or 0.52 percent, to 17,663.54, the S&P 500 lost 10.05 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,079.36 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 20.53 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,053.75.

For the month, the Dow gained 8.5 percent, while the Nasdaq rose 9.4 percent.

The S&P healthcare sector index rose 3.1 percent for the week, showing the best weekly gain since March, spurred by strong pharmaceutical earnings.

Shares of drugmaker AbbVie jumped 10.1 percent Friday to $59.55, the biggest positive driver for the S&P 500 index, after better-than-expected profit and a strong long-term outlook.

 

The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and 4 lows; the Nasdaq recorded 49 new highs and 78 lows.

About 7.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 7.1 billion average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

You May Also Like