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Amazon ( AMZN ) surges nearly 10% on strong cloud revenue growth

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Fed officials' comments boost dollar, dampen rate cut

expectations

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Global stocks set for seventh straight monthly gain

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Global stocks were on pace

for their third straight week of gains and seventh consecutive

monthly advance on Friday buoyed by strong gains in megacap

Amazon ( AMZN ) after its quarterly earnings, while the dollar climbed

after hawkish comments from some Federal Reserve officials.

Amazon ( AMZN ) surged 9.6% after reporting cloud revenue rose

at the fastest clip in nearly three years, enabling the company

to forecast quarterly sales above estimates.

Meanwhile, Apple shares edged down 0.4% to $271.37, paring gains

after reaching an intraday record of $277.32 after it reported

quarterly earnings and forecast holiday-quarter iPhone sales and

overall revenue that surpassed Wall Street expectations thanks

to strong demand for its iPhone 17 models.

The results cap off a run of earnings this week from several

megacap companies, included in the so-called Magnificent Seven

group of stocks, that made clear the massive build of

infrastructure surrounding artificial intelligence shows no

signs of abating.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average , or

0.09%, to 47,562.87, the S&P 500 advanced 17.86 points,

or 0.26%, to 6,840.20 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed

143.81 points, or 0.61%, to 23,724.96.

Stocks closed well off earlier highs, however, as several

Fed officials further echoed comments from Chair Jerome Powell

earlier in the week, who dented expectations the central bank

would cut rates at its December meeting following a 25 basis

point cut on Wednesday.

"The theme today is pretty similar to what we saw

yesterday. It's earnings coming in a little better than expected

but tempered by a little more hawkish commentary from the Fed,"

with James Ragan, Co-CIO and Director of Investment Management

Research at D.A. Davidson.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic

said a December rate cut is not locked in while Federal Reserve

Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said she was open to

reforming the interest rate target used by the Fed to implement

monetary policy.

Markets are pricing in a 65% chance for a 25 basis point cut at

the December meeting, down from almost 92% a week ago, according

to CME's FedWatch Tool.

Each of the three major Wall Street indexes were on track

for a third straight weekly gain, while the Nasdaq was set for

its seventh straight monthly climb, its longest streak since

January 2018.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe

inched up 0.81 point, or 0.08%, to 1,005.99, and was on track

for a seventh straight monthly climb, its longest run since

August 2021.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed down 0.51% after a

round of mixed quarterly earnings and a benign euro zone

inflation report that reinforced the European Central Bank's

view that price pressures remain contained but notched its

fourth straight month of gains.

In currencies, earlier comments from Fed officials also

supported the greenback.

Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid said he dissented

against cutting interest rates this week out of concern that

continued high inflation and signs of price pressures spreading

in the economy could raise doubts about the central bank's

commitment to its 2% inflation target.

In addition, Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan said

the Fed should not have cut interest rates this week and should

not do so again in December.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies, rose 0.31% to 99.78, with the

euro down 0.31% at $1.1529. The greenback was on pace for

a second straight weekly gain and a monthly climb of about 2%.

The Japanese yen edged 0.02% higher against the greenback

to 154.10 per dollar. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama

said the government has been monitoring foreign exchange

movements with a high sense of urgency after the yen plunged to

around 154 per U.S. dollar.

Economic data showed core inflation in Japan's capital

accelerated in October and stayed above the central bank's 2%

target, keeping market expectations for a rate hike from the

Bank of Japan intact.

This week, the Bank of Japan held interest rates steady despite

many economists predicting a hike.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose

0.2 basis point to 4.095% while the 2-year note

yield, which typically moves in step with rate expectations for

the Fed, slipped 1.6 basis points to 3.598%. The 10-year yield

was up nearly 10 basis points on the week, its biggest rise

since the week ended April 11 while the 2-year yield was up more

than 11 basis points on the week, its biggest rise since the

first week of July.

U.S. crude settled up 0.68% to $60.98 a barrel and Brent

settled at $65.07 per barrel, up 0.11% on the day.