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U.S. stock markets closed sharply higher on Friday, reversing previous day’s stiff losses. Strong earnings results by technology behemoths boosted market participants sentiment. Investors ignored higher inflation data. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory. For the week as a whole, these indexes also ended in green.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) advanced 0.4% to close at 38,239.66 after a choppy session. Notably, 17 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, 12 ended in negative zone, and one remained unchanged. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 15,927.90, climbing more than 2% due to strong performance by U.S. technology bigwigs.
The S&P 500 surged 1% to finish at 5,099.96. Seven out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while four in negative zone. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) increased 1.1% and 2.8%, respectively. On the other hand, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) dropped 1.1%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2.2% to 15.03. A total of 9.88 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 11.01 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.25-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.84-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
Strong Tech Sector Earnings
Alphabet inc.’s (GOOGL - Free Report) first-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.89 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 26.8%. Revenues of $80.54 billion increased 15% year over year (16% at constant currency).
Net revenues, excluding total traffic acquisition costs (“TAC”) were $67.6 billion, which surpassed the consensus mark of $66.04 billion. The company announced first ever dividend of $0.2 per share and authorized $70 billion for share buyback.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - Free Report) reported third-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings of $2.94 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.63%. Revenues of $61.85 billion increased 17% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2%. The company benefited by gains from artificial intelligence (AI) adoption across its cloud services.
Snap Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2024 earnings of $0.03 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 160%. Revenues increased 20.9% year over year to $1.19 billion and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.79%.
Consequently, shares of Alphabet and Snap jumped 10.2% and 27.6%, respectively. Microsoft gained 1.8%. Snap currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
The Department of Commerce reported that personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index increased 0.3% month over month in March, in line with the consensus estimate and February’s data. Year over year, PCE inflation increased 2.7% in March, higher than the consensus estimate of 2.6% and February’s reading of 2.5%.
The core (excluding volatile food and energy items) PCE Inflation – Fed’s favorite inflation gauge - increased 0.3% month over month in March, in line with the consensus estimate and February’s data. Year over year, PCE inflation increased 2.8% in March, higher than the consensus estimate of 2.7%. February’s reading was also 2.8%.
Personal consumption increased 0.8% month over month in March, in line with February’s data but higher than the consensus estimate of 0.7%. Personal income increased 0.5% month over month in March, higher than February’s data of 0.3% but lower than the consensus estimate of 0.6%. Personal savings rate dropped to 3.2% in March compared with 3.4% in February. Year over year, personal savings rate declined 2% in March.
Weekly Roundup
Last week was a solid one for Wall Street. The Dow increased 0.7%. The S&P 500 climbed 2.7% to terminate a three-week losing streak. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 4.2%, ending a four-week losing run. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posted best week since November.
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Stock Market News for Apr 29, 2024
U.S. stock markets closed sharply higher on Friday, reversing previous day’s stiff losses. Strong earnings results by technology behemoths boosted market participants sentiment. Investors ignored higher inflation data. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory. For the week as a whole, these indexes also ended in green.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) advanced 0.4% to close at 38,239.66 after a choppy session. Notably, 17 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, 12 ended in negative zone, and one remained unchanged. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 15,927.90, climbing more than 2% due to strong performance by U.S. technology bigwigs.
The S&P 500 surged 1% to finish at 5,099.96. Seven out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while four in negative zone. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) increased 1.1% and 2.8%, respectively. On the other hand, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) dropped 1.1%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2.2% to 15.03. A total of 9.88 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 11.01 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.25-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.84-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
Strong Tech Sector Earnings
Alphabet inc.’s (GOOGL - Free Report) first-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.89 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 26.8%. Revenues of $80.54 billion increased 15% year over year (16% at constant currency).
Net revenues, excluding total traffic acquisition costs (“TAC”) were $67.6 billion, which surpassed the consensus mark of $66.04 billion. The company announced first ever dividend of $0.2 per share and authorized $70 billion for share buyback.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - Free Report) reported third-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings of $2.94 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.63%. Revenues of $61.85 billion increased 17% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2%. The company benefited by gains from artificial intelligence (AI) adoption across its cloud services.
Snap Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2024 earnings of $0.03 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 160%. Revenues increased 20.9% year over year to $1.19 billion and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.79%.
Consequently, shares of Alphabet and Snap jumped 10.2% and 27.6%, respectively. Microsoft gained 1.8%. Snap currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
The Department of Commerce reported that personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index increased 0.3% month over month in March, in line with the consensus estimate and February’s data. Year over year, PCE inflation increased 2.7% in March, higher than the consensus estimate of 2.6% and February’s reading of 2.5%.
The core (excluding volatile food and energy items) PCE Inflation – Fed’s favorite inflation gauge - increased 0.3% month over month in March, in line with the consensus estimate and February’s data. Year over year, PCE inflation increased 2.8% in March, higher than the consensus estimate of 2.7%. February’s reading was also 2.8%.
Personal consumption increased 0.8% month over month in March, in line with February’s data but higher than the consensus estimate of 0.7%. Personal income increased 0.5% month over month in March, higher than February’s data of 0.3% but lower than the consensus estimate of 0.6%. Personal savings rate dropped to 3.2% in March compared with 3.4% in February. Year over year, personal savings rate declined 2% in March.
Weekly Roundup
Last week was a solid one for Wall Street. The Dow increased 0.7%. The S&P 500 climbed 2.7% to terminate a three-week losing streak. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 4.2%, ending a four-week losing run. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posted best week since November.