US close: Tech heavy Nasdaq-100 jumps by the most since early 2015
Amazon.Com Inc.
$174.63
11:44 19/04/24
A wave of strong earnings from the technology sector, alongside a solid reading on the economy, pushed the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 to fresh record highs with the latter registering its strongest rise since March 2015.
ALPHABET-A
152,910.00
00:00 16/04/24
Dow Jones I.A.
37,986.40
04:30 15/10/20
Intel Corp.
$34.20
11:44 19/04/24
Microsoft Corp.
$399.12
11:45 19/04/24
Nasdaq 100
17,037.65
11:45 19/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out an advance of only 0.14% or 33.33 points to 23,434.19, alongside a gain of 0.81% or 20.67 points to 2,581.07 for the S&P 500 while the Nasdaq-100 leaped 2.91% or 175.40 points to close at 6,213.47.
Despite all of the above, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note dropped six basis points to 2.41%, amid reports that President Donald Trump was weighing nominating current US central bank governor Jerome Powell to the top post at the Federal Reserve.
Weighing on the exporter-heavy Dow Industrials, the US dollar spot index climbed past technical resistance, adding 0.32% to 92.94 to reach nearly a three-month high.
From a sector standpoint, the largest gains were seen in: Broadline retailers (8.72%), Internet (4.15%) and General retailers (3.75%).
Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, said: "The focus for the day has been on the dollar, which has had an incredible run, with the dollar index breaking into a three-month high thanks to euro weakness and the continued outperformance of US economic data.
"Today's impressive 3% GDP reading did little to quell the greenback, surged higher yet again, as traders mulled over the heightened prospect of a December rate hike. With the BoJ, FOMC and BoE all up to the plate next week, the focus shifts back onto the central banks after a week of heavy hitting US corporate earnings figures."
Helping the advance were a jump in crude oil futures as Russia and Saudi Arabia gave their support to a nine-month extension of their supply cut deal. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for next month delivery tacked on $1.10 to $53.90 a barrel in NYMEX trading.
In economic data, a preliminary reading on third quarter gross domestic product from the Department of Commerce revealed only a slight dip in the rate of GDP growth for the three months to September, from 3.2% to 3.1% (consensus: 2.5%), despite the impact from the various hurricanes that hit the Gulf of Mexico during that period.
The GDP price deflator also surprised to the upside, accelerating to a pace of 2.2% (consensus: 1.7%).
At the core level on the other other hand, the PCE price index was steady at 1.3%, as expected by economists.
Commenting on Friday's GDP numbers, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "[the hurricanes'] net effect seems to have been smaller and shorter than we expected, and we're sticking to our view that growth will be about 3% in Q4 too.
"That means payroll growth will rebound strongly, and the unemployment rate will keep falling; a sub-4% rate is just a matter of months away. Nothing drives Fed policy like the unemployment rate, which is why market expectations of just one further hike after December are unrealistic."
Elsewhere, the University of Michigan revised its consumer confidence index reading for October from a preliminary print of 101.1 to 100.7 (consensus: 101.0).
Nevertheless, according to Richard Curtin, the survey's chief economist, that still marked just the second time ever that the index had climbed above the 100 point mark.
At the individual company level, Amazon shares soared 13% after the company posted a 34% jump in third-quarter sales to $43.7bn, while net income improved to $252m from $256m.
Stock of another tech stalwart, Google parent Alphabet, jumped on the heels of three-month revenues which rose 24%, while operating income was up 35%.
Chip-maker Intel also gained ground after it reported third-quarter earnings per share of $1.01 versus expectations of $0.80 and revenue of $16.2bn compared with expectations of $15.7bn.
Microsoft was also very much in the spotlight after reporting earnings per share for the third quarter came in at $0.84 compared with estimates of $0.72, while sales printed at $24.5bn versus forecasts of $23.6bn.
Elsewhere, Huntsman was in focus after it and Swiss-based Clariant mutually agreed to drop their proposed merger plans following pressure from US activist investors.
Dow Jones - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.40 7.38%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $83.81 6.41%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $163.05 3.58%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $212.60 1.65%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $165.39 0.84%
3M Co. (MMM) $234.74 0.77%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $137.82 0.64%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $34.43 0.47%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $83.71 0.29%
American Express Co. (AXP) $95.80 0.10%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $58.24 -6.05%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $113.50 -4.14%
General Electric Co. (GE) $20.79 -2.49%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $55.96 -1.50%
Boeing Co. (BA) $256.31 -1.08%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $119.07 -0.72%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $131.06 -0.67%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $87.04 -0.53%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $88.17 -0.51%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.60 -0.39%
S&P 500 - Risers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $57.67 20.35%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,100.95 13.22%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $26.76 8.52%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.40 7.38%
Stryker Corp. (SYK) $159.74 7.34%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $3.77 6.80%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $83.81 6.41%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $62.19 5.53%
Hess Corp. (HES) $43.54 5.47%
EQT Corp. (EQT) $63.31 5.39%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $123.79 -15.99%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $5.88 -12.11%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $14.00 -8.91%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $65.31 -8.43%
Macy's Inc. (M) $19.69 -7.73%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $36.72 -7.04%
Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) $71.03 -6.56%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $58.24 -6.05%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $76.55 -6.04%
CVS Health Corp (CVS) $68.99 -5.89%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $235.94 16.24%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,100.95 13.22%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.40 7.38%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $83.81 6.41%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $62.19 5.53%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $1,019.27 4.80%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $150.11 4.42%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $1,033.67 4.26%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $177.88 4.25%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $252.90 3.75%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $123.79 -15.99%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $65.31 -8.43%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $239.37 -8.15%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $76.55 -6.04%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $64.48 -3.92%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $36.90 -3.35%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $46.49 -2.98%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $87.11 -2.54%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $24.66 -2.53%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,890.92 -2.49%