The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended over 500 points higher on Thursday, rising 1.5% at 4 p.m. ET. Tech leader Microsoft rallied for a second day after strong earnings earlier this week. Apple and Salesforce also were gainers.
Amazon reported sales of $127.4 billion in the first quarter — a 9% increase and earnings per share of 31 cents, compared to a loss of 38 cents per share a year ago. AMZN shares cleared the 200-day line on Thursday and rocketed higher by 12% after market hours. Intel saw sales of $11.7 billion during the quarter and a loss of 4 cents per share. INTC stock is up about 1% after hours.
The S&P 500 also traded at the day's highs with a nearly 2% rally at the closing bell. Hefty gains from IBD Leaderboard stock Meta Platforms, Amazon and Google parent Alphabet lifted the Nasdaq nearly 2.5%. The small-cap Russell 2000's gain was more modest, at 1.1%.
Volume on the NYSE and the Nasdaq nearly matched Wednesday levels.
Crude oil rose nearly 1% to $74.84 per barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note surged 9 basis points to 3.53%.
The Q1 GDP first estimate slowed to 1.1% compared to 2% consensus as businesses paused inventory building. However, the personal consumption index (PCE) component rose 4.2% on an annual basis. Initial unemployment claims for the week ending April 22 came in lower than expectations, at 230,000.
Stocks Moving Today
Meta surged nearly 15% on Thursday after strong earnings late Wednesday, thanks in part to aggressive cost cutting. The Silicon Valley social media giant raised guidance for the current quarter but lowered spending plans.
In the Dow Jones, Caterpillar fell below its 200-day line despite strong earnings. Among health care stocks, Merck pared back early losses after earnings and rose 1.5% at the end of the day. Eli Lilly rose above a buy point of 376.41.
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Intel rose after a test of support at the 50-day on Thursday. The chip megacap has been underperforming the stock market, garnering a lowly 31 Relative Strength Rating, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. Declining PC demand and heavy competition from Advanced Micro Devices are headwinds to growth for the industry bellwether.
First Solar is also testing support at the 50-day line ahead of earnings after the close. On Monday, Citi downgraded the solar stock to sell with a price target of 194.
Cloudflare is approaching a buy point of 66.30 ahead of earnings, also today. A test of the 50-day line for the network software stock is on watch.
Chevron and Exxon are on deck Friday. Shares of both oil and gas companies are hovering above their 50-day lines.
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