NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rebounded Friday to close out the day, week and month on a positive note. Driving Friday's rally was demand for Amazon shares which hit a record high of $250 a share, up over 10 per cent on the day, after its third quarter results , well above expectations, were released.

"We continue to see strong momentum and growth across Amazon as AI drives meaningful improvements in every corner of our business," Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon said in a statement Friday. "AWS is growing at a pace we haven't seen since 2022, re-accelerating to 20.2% YoY. We continue to see strong demand in AI and core infrastructure, and we've been focused on accelerating capacity – adding more than 3.8 gigawatts in the past 12 months," he said.

Amazon shares closed Friday at $244.22, up $21.26 for a gain of 9.58 percent.

Wall Street Ends Week Higher as Tech Stocks Lead Gains

In the end, after a volatile day, U.S. stock markets closed modestly higher on Friday, supported by a continued rally in technology shares and optimism around the economic outlook as investors wrapped up the final trading session of the week.

The Standard and Poor's 500 climbed 17.86 points to finish at 6,840.20, a rise of 0.26 percent, as gains across major tech and consumer stocks helped lift the broader market. The index traded between 6,814.26 and 6,879.17 during the session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a more subdued performance, adding 40.75 points to close at 47,562.87, an increase of 0.09 percent, with defensive sectors providing support while industrial stocks saw mixed results.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed, advancing 143.81 points to 23,724.96, up 0.61 percent, buoyed by strong demand for semiconductor and software companies as investors continued to rotate into high-growth sectors.

Despite lingering uncertainty around interest rate policy and global economic conditions, all  major U.S. markets recorded weekly gains, reflecting steady investor confidence heading into the remainder of November.

U.S. Dollar Holds Firm Against Most Currencies, Steadies against Japanese Yen

The U.S. dollar strengthened against several major currencies on Friday, supported by firm Treasury yields and expectations that interest rates in the United States may remain elevated for longer. However, the greenback was little changed against the Japanese yen, which continued to trade near levels closely watched by policymakers in Tokyo.

The euro slipped to 1.1527 US dollars, down 0.32 percent, as investors reacted to mixed eurozone economic data and cautious guidance from the European Central Bank.

Against the Japanese yen, the U.S. dollar held steady at 154.10, marking a zero percent change on the day, as markets awaited any potential signals of intervention from Japanese authorities to curb weakness in the yen.

The U.S. dollar gained ground against the Canadian dollar, rising 0.24 percent to 1.4017, after softer Canadian economic indicators weighed on the loonie. Meanwhile, the dollar advanced 0.41 percent against the Swiss franc, trading at 0.8046.

In the United Kingdom, the British pound dipped slightly, slipping 0.06 percent to 1.3140 US dollars, tempered by ongoing concerns over domestic inflation and growth.

The Australian dollar weakened to 0.6544 US dollars, down 0.16 percent, while the New Zealand dollar also retreated, falling 0.32 percent to 0.5723 US dollars, as risk appetite eased across global markets.

Foreign exchange traders will now turn their focus to next week's key U.S. economic releases, which could provide clearer direction on the Federal Reserve's policy outlook and the dollar's trajectory heading into the final stretch of the year.

Global Markets Slip as Asian Indices Lead Losses; Nikkei Surges

World stock markets ended broadly lower on Friday, with declines across major European and Asian indices as investors weighed fresh economic concerns, mixed earnings and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was a notable exception, delivering a strong rally to close the week.

In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite Index also finished the day higher, gaining 81.76 points to reach 30,260.74, up 0.27 percent, driven by strength in energy and financial shares.

In London, the FTSE 100 slipped 9,717.25, down 42.81 points or 0.44 percent, pressured by weakness in financial and commodity-linked stocks. Frankfurt's DAX also declined, shedding 160.59 points to finish at 23,958.30, a fall of 0.67 percent. The CAC 40 in Paris dropped 36.22 points to close at 8,121.07, down 0.44 percent.

The EURO STOXX 50 Index, representing blue-chip stocks across the region, fell 37.14 points to 5,662.04, a decline of 0.65 percent. The pan-European ^N100 index eased 7.88 points to 1,708.56, down 0.46 percent. Belgium's BEL 20 index posted one of the steeper losses in Europe, dropping 39.36 points to 4,902.37, a decrease of 0.80 percent.

Across Asia, losses were more pronounced. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 376.04 points to 25,906.65, a fall of 1.43 percent as technology shares retreated. Singapore's STI index slipped 8.82 points to 4,428.62, down 0.20 percent.

Australia's markets were relatively steady but still in the red. The S&P/ASX 200 edged down 3.60 points to 8,881.90, a decline of 0.04 percent, while the broader All Ordinaries eased 0.90 points to 9,178.00, down 0.01 percent.

India's S&P BSE Sensex weakened by 465.75 points to close at 83,938.71, down 0.55 percent after profit-taking in key sectors. Indonesia's IDX Composite slid 20.19 points to 8,163.88, down 0.25 percent. Malaysia's benchmark index slipped 5.05 points to 1,609.15, down 0.31 percent.

New Zealand bucked the regional trend. The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 89.03 points to 13,548.32, up 0.66 percent on strong local earnings sentiment. South Korea's KOSPI also advanced, rising 20.61 points to 4,107.50, an increase of 0.50 percent.

Taiwan's TWSE index declined 54.18 points to 28,233.35, a drop of 0.19 percent. Mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite dipped 32.11 points to 3,954.79, down 0.81 percent amid continued economic concerns.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stood out as the strongest global performer of the day, surging 1,085.73 points to 52,411.34, a gain of 2.12 percent. Analysts attributed the rally to renewed investor confidence and improved technology sector momentum.

Middle East markets were mostly closed on Friday and will reopen on Sunday.

In Africa, the JSE Top 40 Index in Johannesburg (JN0U.JO) fell 40.43 points to 6,321.98, down 0.64 percent. 

While Friday's session showed resilience in select markets, most global indices recorded weekly losses, reflecting continued caution among investors as the year draws closer to its final weeks.