# MarketWatch Stock Quote & News Scraper (`muhammadafzal/marketwatch-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public MarketWatch quotes and news into structured records with symbols, prices, changes, headlines, dates, authors, and URLs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/muhammadafzal/marketwatch-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Muhammad Afzal](https://apify.com/muhammadafzal) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 marketwatch records

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## MarketWatch Scraper

Scrape public MarketWatch quote and news pages into structured dataset records for market research, monitoring, and downstream analysis.

### Extracted fields

| Record | Fields |
|---|---|
| Quote | symbol, companyName, price, change, changePercent, currency, url |
| Article | headline, description, publishedAt, author, imageUrl, url |

### Input

Use `symbols` for quote pages such as `AAPL`, `startUrls` for public MarketWatch pages, or `searchQueries` for MarketWatch search pages. `mode` can be `quote`, `news`, or `auto`. The Actor accepts only MarketWatch URLs and never bypasses authentication, paywalls, CAPTCHA, or access controls.

Set `useApifyProxy` when direct access is challenged. Alternatively, provide `dataImpulseProxyUrl` as a secret input in the form `http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@gw.dataimpulse.com:823`. The Actor never logs the proxy URL. Results are capped with `maxResults` and `maxPages`.

### Output and failure behavior

Each valid result is written as one default-dataset item. Run diagnostics are saved in the `SUMMARY` key-value record. A challenge is reported as `blocked` with zero fabricated results; a page without an extractable record is reported as `empty` or as a warning. MarketWatch may restrict automated access, so successful container completion does not guarantee a result.

### Pay per event

- Actor start: $0.0001 per GB-minute event, with the default 2 GB run using about $0.0002 for startup.
- MarketWatch record: $0.001 per dataset item.

For example, a run returning 10 records has an event subtotal of $0.0101, excluding any optional platform/proxy usage charged by Apify.

### Compliance

Use this Actor only for public pages and in accordance with MarketWatch terms, robots directives, applicable law, and your data-use rights. Do not submit credentials, cookies, or personal data.

# Actor input Schema

## `symbols` (type: `array`):

Use for quote pages; enter ticker symbols such as AAPL or MSFT. The scraper opens https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/{symbol}. If no URL or search query is supplied, AAPL is used as the runtime fallback.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Use for specific public MarketWatch quote, news, latest-news, or article pages; for example https://www.marketwatch.com/story/example. URLs outside marketwatch.com are ignored.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Choose quote for market snapshots, news for article/list pages, or auto to infer from each URL. Default: auto.

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Optional MarketWatch site-search terms; each term is opened as a public MarketWatch search page, for example inflation or Apple earnings. Default: none.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many unique records. Range 1–500; default: 50.

## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

Maximum public pages to visit. Range 1–100; default: 20.

## `useApifyProxy` (type: `boolean`):

Enable when direct MarketWatch access is challenged. This may incur proxy usage charges; default: false.

## `proxyGroups` (type: `array`):

Optional Apify Proxy groups used when useApifyProxy is true. Default: RESIDENTIAL.

## `dataImpulseProxyUrl` (type: `string`):

Optional secret HTTP proxy URL in the form http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@gw.dataimpulse.com:823. Use for a permitted authenticated proxy route; never include credentials in ordinary text fields or logs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "symbols": [
    "AAPL"
  ],
  "startUrls": [],
  "mode": "auto",
  "searchQueries": [],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "maxPages": 20,
  "useApifyProxy": false,
  "proxyGroups": [
    "RESIDENTIAL"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `datasetItems` (type: `string`):

Structured quote and article records written by the Actor.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Truthful run status, counts, warnings, and blocked URLs.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "symbols": [
        "AAPL"
    ],
    "startUrls": [],
    "mode": "auto",
    "searchQueries": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("muhammadafzal/marketwatch-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "symbols": ["AAPL"],
    "startUrls": [],
    "mode": "auto",
    "searchQueries": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("muhammadafzal/marketwatch-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "symbols": [
    "AAPL"
  ],
  "startUrls": [],
  "mode": "auto",
  "searchQueries": []
}' |
apify call muhammadafzal/marketwatch-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,muhammadafzal/marketwatch-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/gRGZNxxxZboL6dgRT/builds/hoKfQiDtbdjfUoGOb/openapi.json