Dow Surges Over 200 Points; Microsoft Shares Gain Following Upbeat Earnings

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 200 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.57% to 38,303.11 while the NASDAQ rose 2.01% to 15,925.77. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.14% to 5,106.22.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 4.3% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy shares dipped by 0.8%.

Top Headline

Microsoft Corp MSFT shares rose more than 2% on Friday after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and sales results for its third quarter.

The company’s revenue increased 17% year-over-year to $61.9 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $60.804 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. The tech giant reported quarterly earnings of $2.94 per share, which beat analyst estimates of $2.82 per share.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Biodexa Pharmaceuticals Plc BDRX shares shot up 78% to $1.2783 after the company entered an exclusive license agreement with Rapamycin Holdings for the rights to eRapa.
• Shares of Snap Inc. SNAP got a boost, surging 26% to $14.41 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter revenue guidance above estimates. Also, the company reported a year-over-year increase in quarterly daily active users.
• Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. ULH shares were also up, gaining 37% to $44.99 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited ICLK shares dropped 53% to $1.20 after the company announced the termination of its merger agreement.
• Shares of Nuwellis, Inc. NUWE were down 41% to $0.17 after the company reported pricing of $2.7 million public offering.
• Saia, Inc. SAIA was down, falling 20% to $433.74 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.2% to $83.71 while gold traded up 0.4% at $2,352.70.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $27.37 on Friday, while copper rose 0.8% to $4.5740.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.11%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.75% while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 1.56% The German DAX rose 1.36% French CAC 40 rose 0.89% while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.91%.

Bank lending to households in the Eurozone rose by 0.2% year-over-year to €6.875 trillion in March. Spain’s retail trade increased by 0.6% year-over-year in March versus a revised 1.8% gain in the earlier month, while unemployment rate increased to 12.29% in the first quarter.

The consumer confidence indicator in France declined to 90 in April versus a reading of 91 in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.81%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumping 2.12%, China's Shanghai Composite climbing 1.17% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.82%.

The Bank of Japan maintained its key short-term interest rate unchanged at its April meeting. Singapore’s manufacturing production declined 9.2% year-over-year in March versus a revised 4.4% increase in the prior month.

Economics

• The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation – the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index – rose more than expected in March. The headline PCE price index rose from 2.5% in February 2024 to 2.7% year-on-year in March, beating forecasts of a 2.6% increase, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.
• U.S. personal income increased by 0.5% from the prior month in March, while personal spending rose by 0.8%.
• The University of Michigan consumer sentiment was revised lower to 77.2 in April compared to a preliminary reading of 77.9, and versus 79.4 in March.
• The total number of active U.S. oil rigs fell by 5 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported

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