NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks increased their recent rally on Friday after Apple’s upbeat forecast (AAPL.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O)and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their biggest monthly percentage gains since 2020.
Most S&P 500 sectors ended higher, with energy (.SPNY) up 4.5%, the most of any S&P sector. Chevron Corporation (CVX.N) increased by 8.9% and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) shares jumped 4.6% after companies reported record quarterly earnings. Read more
Shares of Apple Inc gained 3.3% after the company said parts shortages were easing and iPhone demand continued. Amazon.com Inc jumped 10.4% after forecasting higher third-quarter revenue on the back of higher fees for its Prime loyalty subscriptions. Read more
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“In today’s market, the numbers from Amazon and Apple support the market (on) the idea that two big companies that make up a big chunk of the S&P so far seem capable of weathering these tougher times,” he said. said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.
Stocks also rebounded this week on investor speculation that the Federal Reserve may not need to be as aggressive with interest rate hikes as some had feared.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 315.5 points, or 0.97%, to 32,845.13; the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 57.86 points, or 1.42%, to 4,130.29 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 228.10 points, or 1.88%, to 12,390.69.
All three major indexes advanced for the month and for the week. The S&P 500 gained around 9.1% in July, its biggest monthly percentage gain since November 2020, while the Nasdaq jumped around 12.3% in July, its biggest monthly gain since April 2020.
A Wall Street sign outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, New York, U.S., October 2, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
In other income, Intel Corp (INTC.O) shares fell 8.6% after the company slashed its full-year sales and earnings guidance and missed second-quarter estimates. Read more
US corporate results in the second quarter were mostly stronger than expected.
Of the 279 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 77.8% have exceeded expectations. Earnings for S&P 500 companies are now expected to have risen 7.1% in the quarter, from around 5.6% in early July, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The day’s economic data showed U.S. labor costs rose sharply in the second quarter as a tight job market boosted wage growth. Read more
But on Thursday, a government report showed the US economy contracted unexpectedly in the second quarter, suggesting to some investors the economy was on the verge of a recession. They said that could deter the Fed from continuing to aggressively raise rates as it battles high inflation. Read more
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.35 billion shares, compared to an average of 10.79 billion shares for the full session over the past 20 trading days.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of 2.92 to 1; on the Nasdaq, a ratio of 1.44 to 1 favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and 33 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 82 new lows.
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Additional reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Aniruddha Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Anil D’Silva and Jonathan Oatis
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