Wall Street ends higher, geopolitics on the back burner

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange closed higher on Thursday following strong quarterly results and reassuring economic data, which overshadowed concerns about oil supply due to the maritime blockade in the Middle East, leading to a surge in crude oil prices.

The Dow Jones index gained 1.62%, or 790.33 points, to 49,652.14 points.

The broader S&P-500 gained 73.05 points, or 1.02%, to 7,209.00 points.

The Nasdaq Composite rose by 219.07 points (0.89%) to 24,892.31 points.

With the gains of the day, the S&P-500 and Nasdaq are experiencing their biggest monthly increases since 2020, while the Dow Jones is seeing its largest monthly gain since November 2024.

Thursday’s drop in oil prices, which had previously reached multi-year highs due to the war in Iran, along with data showing healthy growth in the American economy, reassured investors.

The main Wall Street indices rose throughout the session.

Data released during the day showed that the American economy grew by 2.0% in the first quarter, while weekly jobless claims in the United States fell to their lowest level since 1969, even though inflation remained above 3% due to energy prices.

“A large portion of the economic data has eased investors’ concerns,” said Paul Nolte, a strategist at Murphy & Sylvest in Illinois. “Furthermore, there were really good results coming from a variety of companies,” he added to explain the day’s gains.

“As long as we don’t see any changes in the market and economic dynamics, the trend will be upwards,” he said.

The industry, led by a 9.8% increase in Caterpillar after strong quarterly results, was the best performing among major sectors of the S&P-500 and contributed to the Dow Jones’ rise.

On the other hand, the technology sector was the only one to end in the red, limiting the Nasdaq’s gains, following the after-hours release of financial results from tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft.

While Alphabet surged 10% after reporting a record quarter for its “cloud” division, Meta and Microsoft declined by 8.7% and 3.9% respectively due to increased concerns about massive investments in AI development.

Apple, another member of Wall Street’s “Fabulous Seven”, was set to release its results Thursday evening.

For more information, please click on the following codes: NYSE Nasdaq Summary of the market’s strongest volumes Biggest percentage gainers Biggest percentage losers Guide to American stock indices Market statistics 10-year benchmark borrowing guide Guide to American sector indices Guide to American stock markets Dow Jones indices S&P indices Ex-dividend values Forecasts for Dow Jones and S&P.

(Authored by Jean Terzian)

by Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant