The stock markets in the United States ended the trading session higher except the Russell 2000, down by 0.37% today. The Dow Jones gained 0.13%; the S&P 500 went up 0.23%, and the NASDAQ increased 0.71%.
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Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, noted that the equities of technology companies continued an upward moment. According to him, “Tech is the whole story today on the upside. The NASDAQ has been outperforming this earnings season as it’s clearly less impacted by energy prices and the strong dollar.
The NASDAQ exceeded the performance of the Dow Jones and S&P 500 this year. The technology-heavy index recorded 6.8% gains compared with 1.3% and 2.6% gains achieved by Dow Jones and S&P 500, respectively. Over the past 12 months, the NASDAQ increased 22%
Michael Tiedemann of Tiedemann Wealth Management commented, “Big, older tech looks attractive, but he is cautious on social media and disruptive technology companies with high valuations. He liked Apple, Google and Microsoft
[drizzle]Next week, investors will focus their attention on upcoming economic data and policy statement from the Federal Reserve on interest rate as well as its comments about the strength of the U.S. dollar, oil prices, and international issues.
The U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to release its advance report on gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2015. Economist estimated that the GDP grew 1% compared with a 2.2% growth in the fourth quarter
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) is scheduled to release its U.S. factory survey next Friday. Economists predicted that the purchasing manager’s index slightly increased to 52% in April from 51.5% in March.
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 18,081.41 (+0.13%)
- S&P 500- 2,117.82 (+0.22%)
- NASDAQ- 5,092.09 (+0.71%)
- Russell 2000- 1,266.78 (-0.37%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,713.96 (+0.43%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 7,070.70 (+0.24%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 11,810.81 (+0.74%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 20,020.04 (-0.83%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 28,060.98 (+0.84%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 4,702.64 (-0.81%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Amazon.com surged more than 14% to $445.59 per share. The e-commerce giant reported stronger than expected revenue for the first quarter. Amazon.com achieved a 15% increase in revenue $22.72 billion, higher than $22.1 billion expected by analysts. The company recorded a net loss of $57 million or $0.12 per diluted share compared with the $0.15 per share consensus estimate.
The shares of Microsoft increased more than 10% to $47.92 per share. The company reported that its revenue from Surface devices increased 44% to $713 million for the third quarter ended March 31. Microsoft said its earnings were $0.61 per share on $21.7 billion in total revenue for the quarter.
Time Warner Cable gained more than 4% to $155.26 per share.Its CEO Rob Marcus said the company will focus on operating its business. Comcast abandoned its $45.2 billion merger agreement with Time Warner Cable due to the opposition of anti-trust regulators.
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