The stock markets in the United States recorded another rally. The NASDAQ reached all-time high that surpassed its highest closing level in 2000. Today, the index closed 5,056.06 points compared with its 5,048.62 closing level fifteen years ago.
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The NASDAQ reached a record-level amid the renewed worries among investors regarding the slowing economic growth in the United States and concerns regarding the potential interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Investors were also worried about the ability of Greece to pay its debts.
Jesse Lubarsky, a trader at Raymond James, told Dow Jones, “Today is one of the bigger days of earnings that’s out there, so there’s a lot for people to go through. It’s business as usual.”
Commenting on the milestone of NASDAQ, Lubarsky noted that the mood on Wall Street was more sober. He said, “I was around for those days when you had the NASDAQ in the year 2000 [when it hit a record]. Everyone had their hats on. That was ridiculous. It was fun, but it was ridiculous.”
[drizzle]On the other hand, Brendan Connaughton, chief investment officer at ClearPath Capital Partners commented, “The biotechs are actually delivering on expectations. High-profile NASDAQ tech names like Facebook—they’ve delivered.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor reported that the numbers of people who applied for unemployment benefits increased by 1,000 to 295,000 for the week ended April 18. Economists estimated 290,000 claims, according to the survey conducted by Wall Street Journal.
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 18,058.69 (+0.11%)
- S&P 500- 2,112.93 (+0.24%)
- NASDAQ- 5,056.06 (+0.41%)
- Russell 2000- 1,271.52 (+0.48%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,697.88 (-0.71%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 7,053.67 (+0.36%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 11,723.58 (-1.21%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 20,187.65 (+0.27%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 27,827.70 (-0.38%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 4,740.89 (+0.02%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Sphere 3D surged more than 28% to $4.27 per share. Sphere 3D and Microsoft partnered to showcase its technologies and product solutions during a joint global roadshow at Microsoft Technology Centers.
The shares of Microsoft closed $43.23 per share, up by 0.83%. The stock increased another 3% to $44.66 per share during the extended trading hours around 4:35 in the afternoon in New York. The software giant entered an agreement with Ernst & Young to help enterprises adopt more of its services particularly Azure cloud services. The deal also counters the partnership between Apple and IBM.
The Class C stock of Google closed $547.00 per share, an increase of 1.42%. The stock climbed further by 2.74% to $561.80 per share during the extended trading hours. Its Class A shares closed $557.46, up by 1.51% and climbed further by more than 3% to $576 per share around 4:38 in the afternoon in New York.
The stock prices of the search engine giant increased due to strong financial results for the first quarter. Google reported a 12% increase in revenue to $17.3 billion. Its non-GAAP earnings were $6.27 per share for the quarter.
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