US stocks advanced on Friday, as earnings from Microsoft and Procter & Gamble and easing concerns over the possible spread of Ebola in the United States helped put the S&P on track to snap a four-week losing skid. Microsoft was up 2 percent at $45.91, after it reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue while keeping its profit margins largely intact.
Fellow Dow component Procter & Gamble gained 2.7 percent to $85.51 and was also one of the biggest boosts to the S&P 500, after the world's largest household products maker posted quarterly results and said it would split its Duracell battery business into a separate company. But Amazon plunged 7.5 percent to $289.69 as the biggest drag on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 after the online retailer's sales projections for the crucial holiday quarter disappointed Wall Street and third-quarter results missed forecasts. At 12:18 pm Eastern time the Dow Jones industrial average rose 107.6 points, or 0.65 percent, to 16,785.5, the S&P 500 gained 11.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,962.55 and the Nasdaq Composite added 21.88 points, or 0.49 percent, to 4,474.67.
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