Stocks held strong gains in afternoon trading Friday after a resilient performance that saw the Nasdaq composite pare a large intraday loss by more than half on Thursday. Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet were strong movers in the stock market today, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average could only muster a modest gain near 3 p.m. ET.
Buyers lifted Microsoft stock after the company reported strong earnings late Thursday. Cloud revenue jumped 23% to $35.1 billion. Microsoft gapped up and rose more than 2%, but the stock is still on a downtrend, below its 50-day moving average.
A strong earnings report from Alphabet late Thursday gave a huge boost to Google stock in the early going. Alphabet shares were up around 10%.
Another big mover was Amazon.com. Amazon stock rallied 2.5% and reclaimed its 50-day moving average ahead of next week's earnings report.
Nvidia, meanwhile, gave a buy signal with a decisive move above its 50-day moving average. Shares were up nearly 6%. Volume was slightly higher compared with the same time Thursday. Investor's Business Daily's chipmaking, fabless and chip-equipment industry groups were among the day's top performers with gains of at least 2%.
Stock Market Today
The Dow Jones index added 0.5%, but was weighed down by a 10% drop for Intel stock. Intel lagged after the company reported disappointing earnings and offered a second-quarter revenue outlook that was below expectations.
Another Dow component, Chevron was also under pressure after the company delivered an earnings beat but revenue missed. Competitor Exxon Mobil slumped 4% after the company missed on earnings but beat on revenue. Both stocks make up about 40% of the Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange traded fund, which was down 1%
West Texas intermediate crude oil futures were up 0.4%, near $84 a barrel.
Meanwhile, Alphabet's strong move helped fuel a 2.2% gain for the Nasdaq composite. The strong upward move comes a day after the Nasdaq cut a 2.3% intraday loss to less than 1%.
Further, the Nasdaq 100 added 1.6% on the stock market today. Besides Alphabet, other strong gainers in the Nasdaq 100 included Datadog, which is trying to break out of a downtrend.
In the chip-equipment group, KLA gave a buy signal after reporting earnings and jumping above its 50-day line.
See Which Stocks Are In The Leaderboard Model Portfolio
The 10-year Treasury yield was down nearly four basis points to 4.67% after the latest personal income and spending report showed core personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, was up 2.8% in March, just above estimates for 2.7%. The PCE price index is one of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauges. It's the number the Fed wants to see closer to 2%.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.3%, helped by strong performance from ResMed. ResMed soared more than 15% after reporting strong earnings. The company is known for its medical devices to treat sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Winners beat losers on the Nasdaq by just over 2-to-1. The ratio was nearly 3-to-1 positive on the New York Stock Exchange.
Growth Stocks On The Move
Generac, a member of Investor's Business Daily's Leaderboard, gained 2.5%. Shares cleared an alternate entry of 140.34 in decent volume.
Inside the MarketSurge Growth 250, software firm AppLovin is making a solid first test of its 10-week moving average. Shares jumped more than 5%.
Restaurant chain Cava surged more than 5% in strong volume after Thursday's upside reversal.
Super Micro Computer rallied more than 5% on the stock market today ahead of next week's earnings report. Results are due Tuesday after the close, along with numbers from Amazon and Advanced Micro Devices.
Several stocks are in good technical setups ahead of earnings reports next week, including Quanta Services, Ingersoll Rand, Blue Owl Capital and Martin Marietta.
On the downside, Dexcom slumped 7% despite another quarter of strong bottom-line and top-line growth. But the midpoint of its full-year revenue outlook was a little short of estimates.
Follow Ken Shreve on X @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
