Stock Market News for April 26, 2010 - Market News
A strong report on new home sales and better-than-expected earnings from American Express sent stocks higher Friday and helped the Dow average register its 11th gain in the last 12 trading sessions.
On Friday, the Dow average rose 70 points, or about 0.6%, for its eighth straight weekly advance. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8.61 points, or 0.7%, to 1,217.28. The tech-laden Nasdaq, up about 0.4%, lagged its peers, weighed down by Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) disappointing earnings outlook. Five stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange where volume slowed to 880 million shares.
Worries about Goldman (NYSE:GS) have taken a backseat as one after another major banks have came out with estimate-topping numbers and sent risk sentiments soaring. However, The gains have not been limited to the financials alone and more than 83% of the reporting S&P firms have beaten analysts’ projections. Since plunging to their 12-year lows in March 2009, the DJIA has rallied 71%, the S&P500 nearly 80% and the NASDAQ, is up 99.4% from its lows.
News that Greece had requested up to $53 billion in aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund also encouraged traders Friday.
Nevertheless, focus this week would be on Goldman’s Chairman and CEO who appears before a Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations Tuesday. Meanwhile, the ongoing push for financial industry reform will continue as Republicans and Democrats align.
After the close Thursday, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced quarterly earnings that beat Street estimates. The company’s third-quarter income jumped 35% and sales rose 6% on strong demand for its Windows 7 operating system. However, its numbers failed to motivate investors and shares dropped 2% Friday.
Amazon’s quarterly earnings soared 68% but its disappointing outlook sent shares down 4.3%. American Express’ (NSYE:AXP) shares rose 2% on Friday after the credit card company reported estimate-beating quarterly profit late Thursday.
On Wednesday the two-day Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting is likely to stick to its policy on interest rates. However, traders may still parse the language, as usual, for any changes from "extended period" promises of low rates, as well as changes to discount rates.
Earnings reports this week are due from such major companies as: 3M (NYSE:MMM), Aetna (NYSE:AET), BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL), DR Horton (NYSE:DHI), DuPont (NYSE:DD), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Ford Motor (NYSE:F), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), US Steel (NYSE:X), Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and Visa (NYSE:V).
The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.
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