|

Amazon stock notches sixth straight gain on Friday

  • Amazon stock closes 2.94% higher at new all-time high.
  • November NFP hits well above expectations on Friday.
  • Amazon is still seeing positive vibes from its new AI chip.
  • Amazon shares have risen in eight of last nine sessions.

Amazon (AMZN) stock is up for the sixth consecutive session on Friday, a streak that began on November 29. What’s more, AMZN stock has advanced in eight out of the last nine sessions. Since then the world’s largest ecommerce platform has gained 14.1% or nearly $300 billion in market cap.

At the close, Amazon stock advanced 2.94% to $227.03, closing on Friday near the daily high and also new all-time high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), which includes Amazon among its 30 constituents, traded slightly lower due to the continuing sell-off of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) following the Wednesday slaying of one of its top executives. UNH stock fell as much as 5% earlier in the session, while much of the market got excited over the November Nonfarm Payrolls figure hitting 227K, well above the consensus expectation. The DJIA closed down 0.28%.

Amazon stock news

Amazon’s price rally does not appear to be based on any one thing. AMZN stock has been in an uptrend since at least August 5, about four months ago, and over the longer term since December 2022.

The recent news last week that Amazon has built the second version of a new AI-inflected data center chip is a bright spot. The Trainium2 processor was developed in-house from Annapurna Labs and is said to be four times faster than its earlier iteration.

On Wednesday, Apple (AAPL) said that it expects up to 50% efficiency gains by using the Trainium2 chip to train some of its AI models. It has also been using AWS’ Inferentia and Graviton chips for its search widgets.

Amazon Web Services has also announced new partnerships with PagerDuty (PD) and GitLab (GTLB) to train AI products.

Additionally, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are showing that the US consumer is spending at a healthy clip during the holiday season. Adobe Analytics estimated that consumers spent $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday earlier this week. That was 7.3% higher than 2023.
Black Friday sales topped $10.8 billion as well, and Amazon was sure to be a major recipient of that spend.

On Wednesday it came to light that JPMorgan (JPM) and AT&T (T) have halted their advertising on Amazon’s Twitch streaming platform due to complaints alleging that the site is promoting “antisemitic” content.

Amazon stock chart

Amazon stock is looking like the healthiest of the Magnificent 7 coming down the home stretch of 2024. Shares are up 49% year to date, while Nvidia (NVDA) has continued to tread water since its earnings release.

Support rests in the vicinity of $196 or $197, where the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) coincides with the pullback on November 20th and 21st.

After seeing so many up days, it would be likely for consolidation to ensue. However, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is only at 73, just barely in overbought territory. Any pullback might not get further than the prior range high in November near $215.

AMZN daily stock chart

Author

Clay Webster

Clay Webster

FXStreet

Clay Webster grew up in the US outside Buffalo, New York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He began investing after college following the 2008 financial crisis.

More from Clay Webster
Share:

Editor's Picks

AUD/USD stays weak above 0.6900 after China’s trade data

AUD/USD struggles to capitalize on the previous day’s recovery and stays defensive on the 0.6900 level following the narrowing of trade surplus in China. Increased December Fed rate hike bets allows the US Dollar to pause its decline and weigh on the pair. US CPI data is next of note for the major.

USD/JPY retakes 158.00 on weak Japanese data; focus shifts to US CPI

USD/JPY attracts some dip-buyers and retakes 158.00 in the Asian session on Tuesday as a fall in Japan’s Household Spending offsets hawkish BoJ Summary of Opinions, undermining the Japanese Yen. Moreover, Fed hike bets support the safe-haven US Dollar and the currency pair. The market focus now shifts to the release of the crucial US CPI report.

Gold drifts lower as traders look to US CPI report for Fed rate cues amid Iran uncertainty

Gold meets with fresh supply, reversing a part of the previous day's strong move up to the $4,150 resistance zone amid a modest US Dollar uptick. Against the backdrop of firming US Federal Reserve rate hike expectations, mixed signals regarding the state of diplomatic talks between the US and Iran offer some support to the safe-haven Greenback. However, USD bulls seem hesitant and opt to wait on the sidelines ahead of US consumer inflation figures.

Bitcoin hits lowest weekly close since August as short-term holders slip into losses

Bitcoin fell below $75,000 on Tuesday, after recording its lowest weekly close since August as selling pressure pushed recent buyers into losses.

This weeks’ two big inflation reports will offer perspective

Payrolls on Friday surprised with a big gain, 165,000 new jobs rather than the 65,000 forecast. Also the unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to 4.1% although average hourly earnings are up only 0.4% ($32.75). This weeks’ two big inflation reports will offer perspective. Tomorrow it’s CPI and on Friday, which is a Friday the 13th, it’s PPI.

Gold reclaimed $4,100. Tuesday’s CPI test decides if it holds
Gold (XAU/USD) starts the week on a positive note, reclaiming the $4,100 psychological level as the US Dollar (USD) retreats from its recent highs. The precious metal recovers from Friday's losses, although investors remain cautious ahead of Tuesday's US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, which could determine the next direction for Bullion.