Yahoo Finance Stock Market News for Apr 24, 2024
U.S. stocks closed higher for the second straight session on Tuesday, powered by a tech rally as a batch of solid corporate earnings overshadowed concerns over higher interest rates. All three major indexes ended in positive territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) climbed 0.7% or 263.71 points to end at 38,503.69 points to close in the green for the fourth straight session, its longest winning streak since Mar 21.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.2% or 59.95 points, to finish at 5,070.55 points, registering its biggest daily gain in more than two months. Tech, industrials and communication services stocks were the best performers.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) gained 1.5%, while the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) advanced 1.6%. The Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) climbed 1.4% and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) gained 1.2%. Ten of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.6% or 245.33 points to close at 15,696.64 points, recording its biggest daily percentage gain since Apr 11.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 7.38% to 15.69. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 4.89-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 2.69-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues. A total of 10.57 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 11.07 billion.
Solid Earnings Help Stocks Bounce Back
Stocks tried to bounce back on Tuesday from the losses suffered last week that saw the S&P 500 recording its worst week since March 2023. A strong batch of corporate earnings saw investors regaining their lost confidence as they kept aside the concerns over rate cut worries and the recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Among the major companies reporting earnings on Tuesday, Spotify Technology S.A. (SPOT) came up with first-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.05 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.63 per share. Shares of Spotify jumped 11.4%. Spotify has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Shares of General Motors Company (GM) gained 4.4% after the company reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $2.62 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.08 per share.
PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) reported quarterly earnings of $1.61 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.52 per share. However, the company’s shares ended 3% lower following the results.
Shares of Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) also ended 0.3% lower despite the company reporting first-quarter 2024 earnings of $6.33 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.80 per share.
Around 20% of the S&P 500 companies have already reported their quarterly results among which 76% have beaten analysts’ expectations.
The 2-year Treasury yield also fell 4.7 basis points on Tuesday to 4.92%.
Investors are looking forward to quarterly reports from more companies over the week. They are also awaiting the key personal consumption expenditure (PCE) report that is due on Friday.
Economic Data
Data released on Tuesday showed that the manufacturing sector hit a four-month low with the S&P Global Flash U.S. manufacturing PMI coming up with a reading of 49.9, down from March’s reading of 51.9.
In other economic data, U.S. new home sales jumped 8.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 693,000 units, its highest level since September 2023.
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Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
General Motors Company (GM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Spotify Technology (SPOT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
