Apple and Amazon Pull US Stocks Higher, Profits Shower Chevron as Energy Sector Stars
The tech giants reassured investors the world is not ending, while oil prices steer stellar sector showing
All the major US stock indexes rose on Friday, led by Apple (US:AAPL) and Amazon (US:AMZN), whose earnings late Thursday eased some concerns about the economy and the consumer. And as high energy prices bit the consumer, oil companies Exxon and Chevron jumped, and their investors applauded huge recent profits.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4%, the Dow industrials added 1%and the Nasdaq composite gained just uber two percent.
It was the S&P's best day in more than a year and a half, and it ended the month up 9.1%, the Nasdaq composite leapt 12%, and The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the period with a more modest 6.7% rise.
Consumer discretionary and energy were the day's stars, lifting the broader market with better than four percent gains.
Stubbornly high oil prices showered record profits on Chevron (US:CVX), and its shares rose 8.9%. Only slightly less blessed by the crucial commodity's lofty price tag, Exxon Mobil (US:XOM) reported a big jump in profits too, and its shares gained 4.6%.
Those earnings may indicate a more prolonged bout with inflation than many investors think. Ninepoint analyst shared with The Wall Street Journal on Friday. "It seems a very high probability that inflation will be lower, but by the end of this year, it's not going to be anywhere near 2%, where the Fed in the Bank of Canada would both like it," he said the report.
Among highlights Friday, ROKU (US:ROKU) shares fell 23% after the streaming company said it missed Wall Street's second quarter earnings estimates.
Intel (US:INTC) shares fell about nine percent after reporting what Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon summed up in a Friday note thusly; "Intel's Q2 takes the prize for the worst we have seen in our career. While some investors could potentially see a kitchen sink in the results, it seems more likely that things are circling the drain."
Procter & Gamble Co. (US:PG) shares fell 6.2%, again, like many of the day's decliners, after saying its second quarter earnings missed estimates.
In the coming week, we'll see the nonfarm payrolls report from the federal government, and markets want to look for any reaction in the labor market from recent historical interest rate hikes.
A trio of Fed officials appears this week. Federal Open Market Committee members Evans, Bullard, and Mester Watch for any insights the central bank communicates through the three.
The trade group Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reports on the state of US manufacturing on Monday, and investors expect the gauge to fall. Monday is massive as the ISM manufacturing report will be closely watched as it is expected to show another decline but remain in expansion territory. Thursday, we'll get trade data and initial jobless claims.