On Friday,$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$Up 1%, the Nasdaq gained 0.89%, both closing at new highs. Additionally, the S&P 500 rose 10% for the month, marking its best monthly performance since November 2020. WTI crude oil fell 2.0% intraday to $104.65 per barrel, while Brent crude oil dropped 1.5% intraday to $108.59 per barrel. Spot gold surged over 2% intraday, and spot silver climbed more than 3%.
Strong corporate earnings reports for Q1 and economic data that did not show significant deterioration overcame concerns about geopolitical tensions and inflation. The decline in oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields on Friday further boosted risk sentiment.
Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer of Northlight Asset Management, stated, "As long as the economy continues to grow and corporate profits remain strong, we can see higher stock prices even in the face of higher energy prices and inflation."
The U.S. stock market ended strongly on the last trading day of April, with the yen appreciating significantly. After-hours, Apple reported better-than-expected revenue, supported by robust demand for iPhones and Macs.
The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2% in Q1, driven by a wave of AI-powered business investments, with consumer spending remaining solid, providing fundamental support for corporate earnings.
Bret Kenwell of eToro noted that the market has recovered significantly from the Q1 lows, with earnings season becoming the dominant narrative. However, whether this recovery can continue hinges critically on whether energy prices remain persistently high.
Adam Turnquist of LPL Financial stated that the rapid rebound from the March lows was partly due to expectations of easing tensions in the Iran conflict and hopes for the potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Adam Turnquist believes:
Solid Q1 earnings and economic data provided support for the stock market, but ongoing geopolitical uncertainties surrounding Iran and their impact on growth and inflation will keep market volatility elevated.
On Friday, the S&P 500 Index rose 1%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.89%, both closing at record highs. Additionally, the S&P 500 surged 10% for the month, posting its best monthly performance since November 2020.
Despite overall index strength, Meta, one of the 'Mag 7,'$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$Certain stocks fell due to investor concerns triggered by capital expenditure guidance.
Google's stock price surged 10%, reaching a record high.
Although both Meta and Google raised their capital expenditure forecasts, analysis suggests that Meta's market credibility in terms of execution is far lower than Google's. The total capital expenditure of the four largest hyperscale data center operators is expected to exceed $700 billion by 2026, with significant growth projected for 2027.
In terms of sector distribution, 385 constituents of the S&P 500 closed higher, while only 118 declined, indicating broad-based gains. High-beta momentum stocks,$Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$Relevant stocks, Meme stocks, and heavily shorted securities all experienced significant rallies, exhibiting clear signs ofa short squeeze.
Themes related to AI infrastructure also performed strongly, with the American Electric Power theme and the data center theme surging over 3.8% and 3.4%, respectively.
Japanese authorities announced foreign exchange intervention on Friday, causing the yen to soar 2.5% against the dollar, marking its largest single-day gain since 2022. Reports indicate that the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan purchased over $900 billion worth of yen, recording one of the most aggressive interventions in history.
The strengthening yen directly pressured the dollar, with the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index falling 0.8%. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil retreated from a more than three-year high, and WTI crude oil dropped 1.4%. Analysts attribute this to cross-asset effects stemming from Japan's FX intervention.
Earlier in the day, Brent crude futures briefly surged to a four-year high of $124.67 per barrel amid reports that the U.S. was considering military action against Iran.
The pullback in crude oil erased intraday gains, driving U.S. Treasury yields lower, with the 10-year Treasury yield declining 5 basis points to 4.38%.
Gold rose 1.5% to $4,617.31 per ounce, while silver surged 3.3%.
The market closed higher across the board on Friday. The S&P 500 Index soared 10% in April, marking its best monthly performance since 2020 alongside the Nasdaq, with 385 of its components advancing.
U.S. benchmark indices:
The S&P 500 Index gained 73.06 points, or 1.02%, closing at 7,209.01 points, its first-ever close above 7,200 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 790.33 points, or 1.62%, to close at 49,652.14 points.
The Nasdaq Composite Index added 219.073 points, or 0.89%, finishing at 24,892.313 points.$NASDAQ 100 Index (.NDX.US)$The index rose 265.135 points, or 0.98%, to close at 27,452.12 points.
U.S. sector ETFs:
The U.S. solar energy sector surged 3.93%, AI robotics gained 3%, and the S&P industrials sector advanced 2.74%.
Mag 7:
The Wind US Magnificent 7 Tech Stocks Index fell by 0.07%.
Meta fell by 8.55%,$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$fell by 4.63%, Microsoft fell by 3.93%, Apple rose by 0.44%,$Amazon (AMZN.US)$Up 0.77%, $Tesla (TSLA.US)$rose by 2.37%, Google A surged by 9.96%.
Chip Stocks:
$PHLX Semiconductor Index (.SOX.US)$closed up 2.26% at 10,503.70 points.
$Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$ADR rose by 0.57%, AMD surged by 5.16%.
Chinese Concept Stocks:
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed up 2.01% at 6,928.16 points, with a cumulative increase of 2.59% in April.
$Baidu (BIDU.US)$with gains exceeding 4%.$NetEase (NTES.US)$rose more than 3%, XPeng Motors,$Bilibili (BILI.US)$、$PDD Holdings (PDD.US)$, JD.com rose more than 2%,$iQIYI (IQ.US)$、$Alibaba (BABA.US)$rose over 1%,$Zhihu (ZH.US)$Fell more than 1%.
Other individual stocks:
$Circle (CRCL.US)$fell by 4.93%.
Rare earth concept stocks, U.S. infrastructure stocks, and weight-loss drug concept stocks were among the top gainers.$Caterpillar (CAT.US)$surging nearly 10%,$Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.US)$rose over 9%,$Novo-Nordisk A/S (NVO.US)$Climbing over 4%.
European stock markets recorded their best monthly performance since January of last year, with the technology sector rising approximately 13.4%, followed by media and banking sectors which gained at least 9%.
Pan-European stocks:
The European STOXX 600 Index closed up 1.38% at 611.28 points, surging 4.83% in April, marking its largest monthly gain since January 2025.
The Eurozone STOXX 50 Index rose 1.12% to close at 5881.51 points, gaining 5.60% in April.
Major Stock Indexes Around the World:
Germany's DAX 30 Index advanced 1.41% to close at 24292.38 points, with a cumulative increase of 7.11% in April. After a gap-up opening on April 8, it mainly traded above the 24000-point level.
France's CAC 40 Index ended 0.53% higher at 8114.84 points, accumulating a 3.81% rise in April.
$UK FTSE100 Index (.FTSE.GB)$It closed 1.62% higher at 10378.82 points, with a cumulative rise of 1.99% in April.
Section:
In April, by sector, the STOXX 600 Technology Index surged 13.79%, the Media Index climbed 9.49%, the Banking Index increased 9%, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 8.04%, and the Financial Services Index gained 7.87%.
Germany's two-year government bond yield fell by 10 basis points on the day of the ECB's policy decision.
U.S. Treasuries:
At the New York close, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose by 4.3 basis points.
European debt:
At the European market close,$German 10-Year Treasury Notes Yield (DE10Y.BD)$It fell by 7.4 basis points to 3.037%, continuing its steady decline. In April, it cumulatively increased by 3.3 basis points, trading within a range of 2.903%-3.133%.
The Abu Dhabi Murban crude oil futures in the Middle East closed at $109.61 per barrel, with a cumulative increase of 2.62% in April.
Crude Oil:
WTI June crude oil futures settled at $105.07 per barrel, with a cumulative increase of more than 12.78% in April.
Brent June crude oil futures settled at $114.01 per barrel, with a cumulative increase of more than 9.56% in April, reaching $126.41 during the Asia-Pacific noon session on April 30.
The Abu Dhabi Murban crude oil futures in the Middle East closed at $109.61 per barrel, with a cumulative increase of 2.62% in April.
Natural Gas:
NYMEX June natural gas futures settled at $2.7670 per million British thermal units.
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Editor/Liam