US stock indices on Friday advanced after robust earnings updates from ExxonMobil Corp and Intel Corp offset worries over Amazon.com Inc’s slowdown warning, while economic data reinforced expectations that the US Federal Reserve would hike interest rates next week.
Exxon shares finished up 1.3 percent after hitting an all-time high as the oil company reported a record first-quarter profit on rising oil and gas output, also boosting the S&P energy index 1.5 percent.
Chipmaker Intel gained 4 percent after it said gross margins would improve in the second half.
Yet Amazon fell 4 percent in its biggest one-day loss since early February, despite better-than-expected quarterly results, as it signaled its cloud computing business growth would slow further. It weighed on the consumer discretionary index, which finished down 0.04 percent.
After the market close, First Republic Bank tumbled 49 percent to US$1.77 after reports that the regional lender was headed for receivership. That was after the bank’s 43 percent decline in the regular trading session.
The benchmark S&P 500 advanced for the week as well as the day and registered a second consecutive monthly gain. It was helped by better-than-expected earnings from megacap companies including Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp and Meta Platforms Inc.
Photo: AFP
“This week’s earnings overall were better than people expected. There was a lot of pessimism going in, but the past week has brought home the fact that it’s not turning into a bad earnings season at all,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.
He said that investors might still be cautious ahead of Apple Inc’s results due next week, and the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting and the US jobs report for this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 272 points, or 0.8 percent, to 34,098.16, the S&P 500 gained 34.13 points, or 0.83 percent, to 4,169.48, and the NASDAQ Composite added 84.35 points, or 0.69 percent, to 12,226.58.
The CBOE Volatility Index, otherwise known as “Wall Street’s fear gauge,” closed down 1.25 points at 15.78, which was its lowest close since Nov. 2021.
For the month the S&P rose 1.46 percent, while the Dow added 2.48 percent and the NASDAQ gained 0.04 percent. For the week the S&P rose 0.89 percent in line with the Dow’s weekly gain of 0.86 percent and the NASDAQ rose 1.28 percent.
Among the S&P 500’s 11 industry sectors the biggest gainer was energy, while the biggest decliner was utilities, which fell 0.2 percent.
The economically sensitive Dow Transportation index closed up 1.6 percent for the day, but lost 2.7 percent for the week.
Analysts expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to fall 1.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 5.1 percent fall expected at the start of this month, Refinitiv data showed.
John Praveen, cochief investment officer at Paleo Leon Inc in Princeton, New Jersey, said that Friday’s economic data solidified expectations ahead of next week’s Fed meeting and eased fears about a sharp slowdown.
Data showed that US consumer spending was unchanged last month, while underlying inflation pressures remained strong, feeding expectations that the Fed would hike interest rates by 25 basis points next week.
Other data showed that first-quarter US economic growth slowed more than expected, while plunging consumer confidence this month heightened fears of a recession.
The Fed also issued a detailed and scathing assessment of its failure to identify problems and push for fixes at Silicon Valley Bank before the US lender’s collapse, and promised tougher supervision and stricter rules for banks.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
‘LASER-FOCUSED’: Trump pledged tariffs on specific sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, copper and aluminum, and perhaps even cars US President Donald Trump said he wants to enact across-the-board tariffs that are “much bigger” than 2.5 percent, the latest in a string of signals that he is preparing widespread levies to reshape US supply chains. “I have it in my mind what it’s going to be but I won’t be setting it yet, but it’ll be enough to protect our country,” Trump told reporters on Monday night. Asked about a report that incoming US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent favored starting with a global rate of 2.5 percent, Trump said he did not think Bessent supported that and would not
RSS