Salesforce, Okta Look to Lead Stocks Higher

Just when many investors thought that a seasonal September slump had come a month early, stock markets have regained their upward trend. Investors hope that the economy will chart a Goldilocks-style path, remaining strong enough to avoid an outright recession but not being so strong that the Federal Reserve has to keep interest rates high for a long time. That enthusiasm persisted on Thursday morning, as stock market index futures indicated a strong likelihood of further gains when the market opens.

Tech stocks have been particularly volatile this year, rising sharply during good times but also seeing steeper declines when market sentiment falters. On Thursday, though, investors were excited about the financial results that Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) and Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA) released, and that helped to create the upward momentum for the entire market. Here's what people are talking about in the two companies' respective reports.

Shares of Salesforce were up about 7% in premarket trading Thursday morning. The customer relationship management software pioneer reported fiscal second-quarter financial results for the period ended July 31 that showed good growth trends and suggested plenty of potential for further gains ahead.

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Source Fool.com