Stocks experienced a significant rise at the start of Friday's trading session, with the tech-focused Nasdaq leading the upswing and the major averages solidifying in positive territory.
At present, the primary averages are just below their daily highs. With an increase of 359.67 points or 2.3 percent, the Nasdaq reached 15,971.43, The S&P 500 reached 5,111.86, up 63.44 points or 1.3 percent, while the Dow climbed to 38,298.74, up by 212.94 points or 0.6 percent.
The surge on Wall Street follows favorable responses to recent earnings results from renowned tech enterprises. Alphabet (GOOGL)'s shares, for instance, soared by 10.2 percent due to Google's parent company reporting better-than-expected Q1 results. The company also announced its inaugural dividend and a $70 billion stock buyback. Similarly, Microsoft (MSFT) increased by 2.6 percent following Q3 fiscal results that surpassed estimates.
On the contrary, Intel (INTC) saw their shares drop by 9.5 percent after reporting Q1 earnings that, while exceeding evaluation, accompanied disappointing guidance.
Market traders have also seemingly responded positively to inflation readings as released by the Commerce Department. The U.S. consumer prices rose in accordance with economist estimates in March. Consumer prices, excluding food and energy, also saw an increase of 0.3 percent, aligning with market expectations.
Despite Intel's slump, Semiconductor stocks experienced significant strength, with a 2.9 percent surge in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Following Microsoft's favorable results, software stocks also exhibited impressive performance. Additionally, retail, housing, and computer hardware stocks saw an upswing, whereas airline stocks veered away from the trend.
Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Independent Advisor Alliance noted that in the face of elevated inflation rates in 2024, the market needs to adjust its expectations away from Federal Reserve rate cuts. He expressed optimism on the market, stating that rate cuts are not a prerequisite for continued bull market, and that sustained economic expansion and growth in corporate profits are what will propel stock prices to unprecedented heights.
In international trading, Asia-Pacific stock markets generally trended upwards on Friday, with both Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining height. European markets also saw gains with the German DAX Index, the French CAC 40 Index, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advancing.
Treasuries receded from early highs but remained in a favorable position, causing the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which inversely relates to its price, to drop by 3.7 basis points to 4.669 percent.
