Amazon-Led Rally Extends U.S. Stock Market Win Streak Amid Earnings Surge

The U.S. stock market ended another successful week and month, with the S&P 500 closing near its all-time high and marking its longest monthly winning streak since 2021. Amazon led the gains, surging around 9.6% to 10.3% after reporting quarterly earnings that significantly exceeded analyst expectations, driven largely by accelerated growth in its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, fueled by rising demand for artificial intelligence and infrastructure services. Despite being larger than Amazon, Apple had a more muted impact on the market, posting a slight dip after its quarterly profits beat expectations by a smaller margin. Other notable performers included Reddit, which rebounded sharply on strong quarterly results, and Netflix, which rose following its announcement of a 10-for-1 stock split aimed at making shares more affordable. Meanwhile, the Dow and Nasdaq also posted gains, with the Dow achieving its longest monthly winning streak since 2018. Market sentiment was tempered by Federal Reserve officials' cautious remarks on interest rate cuts, which moderated expectations for further easing in December.