Strong earnings reports push stocks forward
Independent Women’s Forum policy director Hadley Heath Manning, S&P Investment Advisory Services portfolio manager Erin Gibbs and Belpointe Asset Management chief strategist David Nelson on corporate earnings and the strength of the U.S. economy.<br>
Equity futures are pointing to giving back some of Thursday’s gains ahead of a report on U.S. growth.
Continue Reading Below
Dow Jones futures were lower by 0.23%. The S&P 500 was off by 0.21% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.14%.
Consumers may have pulled back the reins on spending in the first quarter, slowing economic growth, but economists say it is expected to be only a temporary pause.
The government’s latest gross domestic product report will be released before the start of trading Friday morning.
Growth probably increased at a 2 percent annual rate, according to a Reuters survey of economists, who say it was held back by a moderation in business spending on equipment as well as a widening of the trade deficit and a decline in investment in homebuilding.
The economy grew at a 2.9 percent pace in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Advertisement
The Nasdaq Composite broke a five-session losing streak Thursday, powered higher by a strong round of corporate earnings reports in the technology sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 238.51 points, or 0.99%, to 24,322.34. The S&P 500 rose 27.54 points to 2,666.94. The Nasdaq Composite was up 114.94 points, or 1.64%, at 7,118.68.
Amazon rallied nearly 7% in after-hours trading, putting the stock above its all-time intraday high of $1,617. The company said that it will raise the annual price of Prime subscriptions to $119, a 20% increase. The e-commerce giant, which reported first-quarter earnings that more than doubled, currently charges U.S. customers $99 for an annual subscription.
Facebook surged almost 10% a day after Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on a conference call with analysts that the company wasn’t seeing a “meaningful trend” to suggest concern from advertisers after the data breach scandal.
Microsoft shares headed to a record high after-hours following a better than expected earnings report including signing up more customers to its cloud business.
Two Dow members – ExxonMobil and Chevron – will headline Friday morning’s earnings parade.
Half the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their January-through-March results, with large percentages beating on the top and bottom lines.
Year-over-year earnings growth of 28.2% is far ahead of the 18.4% increase that analysts expected.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished the day up 0.7% and had a gain of 1.4% for the week. Japanese markets will be closed on Monday for a holiday.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.7%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.1%.
FOX Business’ Charles Brady and Leia Klingel contributed to this article.
