The main indices of Wall Street are expanding their gains, with the industrial Dow Jones gaining more than 200 points and the technological Nasdaq gaining 1.5% in the positive mood shaped by the first -encouraging- quarterly results of giants of the American economy such as General Motors, Kimberly-Clark and GE Aerospace shortly before the big names in technology took over the results.
GM shares gained more than 4% after reporting quarterly results that beat analysts’ estimates, with the automaker also revising its full-year guidance.
Kimberly-Clark’s results also beat estimates, with the personal care products company raising its full-year 2024 earnings and sales guidance. The company’s stock jumped 5%.
Aerospace giant GE Aerospace also posted a strong 4% gain after quarterly results, while Danaher also gained more than 4% as the life sciences company beat analysts’ estimates on its quarterly earnings and sales.
After the market close today, Tesla will announce its results, to be followed in the next few days by tech giants such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft.
Indicators – Statistics
On the board, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 232.91 points, or 0.61%, to 38,474.23, while the broader S&P 500 gained 56.45 points, or 1.13%, to 5,067.07. The tech Nasdaq added 239.45 points, or 1.53%, to 15,688.17.
Of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones industrial index, 22 move with a positive sign and eight with a negative sign. Verizon Communications rose $1.26, or 3.25%, to $39.86, the biggest gainer, followed by Caterpillar, up 1.95% to $364.57, and American Express, up 1.83 % to $237.27
Conversely, the stocks with the biggest losses are Walmart (-1.90%), Boeing (-0.54%) and Coca-Cola (-0.46%).
Later in the day, data released today showed that US business activity slowed in April as both services and manufacturing saw less work.
In particular, the composite PMI that combines manufacturing and services fell to a four-month low of 50.9 points from 52.1 points in March, S&P Global’s preliminary survey data showed.
The services-only business activity index slipped to a five-month low of 50.9 from 51.7 in March, while the manufacturing index slipped to a four-month low of 49.9 from 51.9 in March, slipping below the 50-point level that separates expansion from contraction in activity.
The index for manufacturing output stood at 51.1 points from 54.0 points in the previous month.
