Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 9, 2021.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday, notching its best month since January.
The blue-chip index closed 272 points, or 0.8%, higher at 34,098.16. The S&P 500 added 0.83% to finish at 4,169.48. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.69% to end at 12,226.58 as investors parsed the latest crop of technology earnings.
The Dow finished April 2.5% higher, its best monthly showing since January, when the average ended up 2.8%. The S&P 500 logged a 1.5% monthly gain, while the Nasdaq ended the month slightly higher.
On a weekly basis, the Nasdaq is saw the largest gain, at 1.3%, in what was considered Big Tech’s marquee earnings week. The Dow and S&P 500 are each finished the week about 0.9% higher.
Just over half of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings thus far. Of those companies, 80% have beaten expectations, according to data from FactSet. That beat rate is roughly in line with a three-year average, according to data from The Earnings Scout.
“The market should follow earnings,” said Gina Bolvin, president of Bolvin Wealth Management. “That is the mother’s milk of the market.”
Amazon shares were down nearly 4%. When reporting first-quarter results, the online retailer said its cloud business decelerated, though it did beat Wall Street’s expectations for revenue in the quarter.
Snap tumbled more than 17% following a revenue miss. Pinterest shares dropped nearly 15.7% after issuing disappointing second-quarter revenue growth expectations. First Solar slid more than 9% after missing Wall Street expectations for the first quarter.
Not every tech stock was down following their respective releases. Intel shares climbed 4% after the semiconductor firm beat estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Data released Friday morning showed the personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.3% in March, which was in line with economist expectations. The index is a key gauge of inflation for the Federal Reserve, which has a policy meeting scheduled for next week.
“Today is reflective of sort of a three-legged stool,” said Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments. “Earnings, economic data and the Fed continue to be the investor narrative.”
Also of note, shares of troubled First Republic Bank plunged more than 43% after CNBC’s David Faber reported that the most likely outcome for the regional bank is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation taking receivership. The stock has lost more than 97% of its value since the start of the year.
