by Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Tuesday after reporting strong quarterly results from leading companies, as investors await results from Wall Street’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ and other stocks high growth.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.69%, or 263.71 points, to 38,503.69 points.
The broader S&P-500 gained 59.95 points, or 1.20%, to 5,070.55 points.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 245.34 points (1.59%) to 15,696.64 points.
Among the companies that beat expectations was General Motors, which also raised its annual forecast on Tuesday. The automaker ended the session up 4.4%.
The results season is intensifying this week with several technological giants, first and foremost Tesla which communicated its results after the close. Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms will release theirs later this week.
Ten of the eleven main sectors of the S&P-500 ended the session in the green, led by communications services and technologies.
“Markets are once again focusing on quarterly results across a range of sectors, which have been strong,” said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta.
Data released today showed that U.S. business activity slowed to a four-month low in April, driven by declining demand, while inflation rates fell slightly even if input prices have increased significantly – suggesting a future improvement in consumer prices.
Investors are awaiting the publication, scheduled for Friday, of the report on personal consumption in the United States, which the American Federal Reserve (Fed) considers to be the main indicator of inflation.
While at the start of the year they anticipated rate cuts of 150 basis points in total in 2024, market players are now only banking on around 43 basis points, according to LSEG data.
Among the value movements worth noting, Spotify’s jump of more than 11% after the publication of a gross margin having exceeded 1 billion euros for the first time.
Conversely, JetBlue tumbled nearly 19% after lowering its annual revenue forecast following a disappointing first quarter.
(Written by Jean Terzian)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters