(Updates prices to late afternoon, adds analyst comments, market

details)

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Indexes up: Dow 0.08%, S&P 500 up 0.32%, Nasdaq up 0.73%

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Amazon ( AMZN ) jumps as cloud growth beats expectations

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Apple ( AAPL ) forecasts upbeat holiday-quarter iPhone sales

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Warner Bros jumps after Reuters report of Netflix ( NFLX ) bid

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Oct 31 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq index advanced faster than

the S&P 500 and the Dow on Friday with a strong boost from

Amazon's ( AMZN ) upbeat earnings forecast, but worries about hawkish

Federal Reserve commentary and the potential expiry of

government food aid benefits dampened the investor mood.

Amazon ( AMZN ) shares jumped 11%, hitting an all-time high

after the online retailer forecast quarterly sales above

estimates. Apple's ( AAPL ) forecast for iPhone sales in the

holiday quarter surpassed Wall Street expectations late on

Thursday, but CEO Tim Cook flagged supply constraints. Its

shares were last flat.

Nvidia ( NVDA ), which became the first publicly listed firm

to surpass $5 trillion in market value earlier this week, was up

0.7% after CEO Jensen Huang said he hoped the company's

state-of-the-art Blackwell chips could be sold in China.

But in remarks that cooled investor hopes, Federal Reserve Bank

of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said on Friday that a

December rate cut is not locked in despite market expectations

for a cut. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth

Hammack said she had opposed Wednesday's rate cut because

inflation is too high.

On Friday, traders were pricing in a 63% probability of a

December rate cut, down from 72.8% on Thursday, according to CME

Group's FedWatch tool.

"Investors may have gotten in front of their skis a little

bit and thinking, 'OK, going to get lower rates,' and maybe that

will lead to some broadening of market performance, maybe get

some economic tailwinds to certain cyclical sectors," said Jake

Seltz, portfolio manager for the Empiric LT Equity team at

Allspring.

Some grocery stocks traded lower on Friday on worries about a

dip in November sales if federal food aid benefits, known as the

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, lapse due to

the ongoing government shutdown. However, a federal judge in

Rhode Island on Friday blocked President Donald Trump's

administration from suspending all food aid for millions of

Americans.

Shares of grocer Kroger ( KR ) were down 2.9% while shares

of Conagra Brands ( CAG ) were off 1.8% and Walmart ( WMT )

shares dropped 1.2%.

"Earlier, everybody got a boost from Amazon ( AMZN )," said Kim

Forrest, chief investment officer of Bokeh Capital, adding that

the Amazon ( AMZN ) boost gradually faded as Friday's market was "like a

slowly leaking balloon rather than pin pop."

Forrest said investors, including mutual funds at the end of

their fiscal year, may have taken a pause after a strong month.

She also noted some signs of fears in grocery stocks in the face

of a potential SNAP program expiry.

At 2:25 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 38.02 points, or 0.08%, to 47,560.14, the S&P 500

gained 22.13 points, or 0.32%, to 6,844.47 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 171.09 points, or 0.73%, to 23,752.23.

AI frenzy pushed Wall Street to record highs earlier this week

before concerns about major spending from Microsoft ( MSFT ) and

Meta as well as doubts about further interest rate cuts

from the Federal Reserve spooked investors.

For the month, the S&P 500 was higher, putting it on

track for a sixth consecutive monthly gain - its longest such

streak since August 2021.

The Nasdaq Composite was on pace for a seventh consecutive

monthly advance, while the Dow was set for its sixth straight

monthly win - their longest runs since January 2018.

Of the 315 S&P 500 companies that have reported

third-quarter results so far, 83.2% have surpassed analysts'

estimates, according to LSEG data. That is well above the

historical average, where roughly 67% of firms beat forecasts.

In other moves, Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) rose 3.8%

following a Reuters report that Netflix ( NFLX ) was actively

exploring a bid for the company's studio and streaming

business.

Netflix ( NFLX ) added 2.8% as it unveiled plans for a 10-for-1 stock

split.

Getty Images ( GETY ) rose 2.7% after signing a global

multiyear licensing agreement with Perplexity AI.

Western Digital ( WDC ) gained 6.7% to an all-time high

after forecasting quarterly earnings above Wall Street

estimates.

Solar panel maker First Solar ( FSLR ) surged 13.4% to a more

than one-year high after surpassing expectations for third

quarter sales.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.04-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE where there were 124 new highs and 122 new lows.

On the Nasdaq, 2,467 stocks rose and 2,138 fell as advancing

issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.15-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500

posted 16 new 52-week highs and 34 new lows while the Nasdaq

Composite recorded 65 new highs and 151 new lows.