InfoQuest – The Dow Jones New York Stock Exchange index ended higher on Tuesday (April 23) in response to stronger-than-expected operating results from listed companies. General Motors Co. (GM) because investors look to the earnings reports of major technology companies. Including important US economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 263.71 points, or +0.69%, to 38,503.69, the S&P 500 added 59.95 points, or +1.20%, to 5,070.55, and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.54,69 points, or 69.95%.
Ten of the 11 stocks in the S&P 500 closed in positive territory, led by communications services and technology stocks, which rose 1.86% and 1.71%, respectively, while the commodities index fell 0.84%.
The New York Stock Exchange was buoyed by a strong performance by listed companies, including major US automaker GM. 1Q 2024 earnings per share were revealed at $2.62, beating analysts' expectations of $2.15, sending GM shares up 4.4% to close.
Shares of United Parcel Service (UPS), the world's largest package delivery company, rose 2.41% after the company reported first-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.43 per share, beating analysts' expectations by $1.29.
Shares of Swedish music streaming company Spotify rose 11.4% after the company posted a profit of more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the first quarter.
Shares of major U.S. aircraft engine maker GE Aerospace rose 8.3% after the company posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter of 2024 and beat expectations for its full-year 2024 forecast.
Tesla shares rose 1.85% after the market closed before the company released earnings. Investors will be watching earnings reports this week from other tech companies including MetaPlatforms, Alphabet and Microsoft.
PepsiCo reported earnings of $1.61 per share for the first quarter of 2024, beating analysts' expectations of $1.52, which provided early support for the stock price. But PepsiCo shares fell 2.9% following news that PepsiCo's subsidiary is withdrawing its “Quaker Oats” brand of food products.
Data from FactSet indicates that roughly 20% of S&P 500 companies reported earnings as of Tuesday, April 23, and 76% reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates.
Global revealed that the 10-year U.S. government bond yield fell below 4.6% last night after S&P's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the U.S. Integrates manufacturing and primary service sectors. It fell to 50.9 in April, a 4-month low, from 52.1 in March.
Investors will keep an eye on the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index this Friday (April 26) for signs of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) interest rate outlook. The central bank is concerned because it can detect changes in consumer behavior and is broader than the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The scale includes the prices of goods and services.
The latest data from LSEG shows that financial market investors expect total interest rates to be cut by 0.43 percentage points this year, compared to a 0.43% cut in total interest rates this year to 1.50% this year.
In addition to the PCE index, investors are waiting to see other US economic data this week. This includes durable goods orders for March. On Thursday, the number of weekly jobless claims for the first quarter of 2024, gross domestic product (GDP), the number of pending home sales contracts in March (home sales pending) and the final April index of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan
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