The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared by 0.80% or 272 points, leading to a total gain of 2.5% for April. The S&P 500 increased by 0.8%, and the Nasdaq rose by 0.7%. Energy stocks saw a surge of over 1% following better-than-anticipated quarterly results from major oil companies Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX), with investors expressing their optimism.
Despite the 43% decline in First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC) after a CNBC report revealed that regulators are considering putting the beleaguered American mid-size lender into receivership, financials remained in the green. The regulators’ move is expected to facilitate the bank’s sale to another financial institution.
Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), and Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION) contributed to a rally in the regional banking sector, pushing it up by more than 1%. Additionally, the materials sector played a significant role in the broader market’s upward movement, driven by Eastman Chemical’s (NYSE: EMN) better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, which caused a surge of over 4% in its stock.
Stock Market Highlights: Amazon, Snap, Intel, and Dow Jones
Amazon.com, the e-commerce giant, reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue beating estimates on both the top and bottom lines. However, the company also flagged slowing growth in cloud computing, leading to a more than 4% drop in its shares. According to a note by Goldman Sachs, Amazon’s AWS revenue growth rate decelerated by 500 basis points in April due to cloud computing optimizations.
Social media company Snap was down 17% as it reported first-quarter revenue that fell short of Wall Street expectations due to a drop in advertising income.
On the other hand, Intel Corporation saw its shares jump more than 4% after it reported better-than-feared results. The strong performance was supported by the company’s data center business.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average concluded the month of April with an impressive rally. This marks the strongest monthly performance for the Dow since January. Energy and financial stocks showed positive movements, while materials and technology stocks also contributed to the market’s growth.
