Global Markets: Technology Sector Drives Growth on Wall Street and European Exchanges

On Wall Street, stock prices rose on Thursday, primarily in the technology sector, as most companies in the S&P 500 index reported higher quarterly earnings than expected.

The Dow Jones increased by 0.85 percent to 38,225 points, while the S&P 500 rose by 0.91 percent to 5,064 points, and the Nasdaq index climbed by 1.51 percent to 15,840 points.

Stock prices increased in nine of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 index. The technology sector saw the largest increase, while the mining sector experienced the most significant decline.

Among the biggest gainers, Qualcomm’s stock jumped nearly 10 percent as the chip manufacturer reported revenues and earnings that exceeded expectations in the last quarter.

Most other companies also reported earnings that surpassed expectations.

So far, about 370 companies in the S&P 500 index have reported results, with 77 percent exceeding earnings expectations.

As a result, analysts in a Reuters survey now estimate that corporate earnings in the first quarter rose by about 6.5 percent compared to the same period last year, while a month ago, a 5.1 percent earnings growth was anticipated.

Positive messages from the U.S. central bank are also influencing the market. On Wednesday, Fed leaders decided to keep the key interest rates unchanged in the range of 5.25 to 5.50 percent, as they stated in a press release, due to no further progress on inflation.

However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference that further interest rate hikes are unlikely, which reassured investors who were concerned about such moves due to elevated inflation.

Regarding interest rate cuts, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that the Fed will decide on such a move before autumn.

Since the beginning of the year, stock indices on the world’s largest exchange have risen sharply based on expectations that the Fed will aggressively cut interest rates this year, starting in June.

However, as it became clear that these were overly optimistic expectations, indices significantly fell in April.

Growth on European Exchanges

On European exchanges, stock prices rose on Friday morning, primarily in the technology sector, with investors focusing on the quarterly business results of European companies.

The STOXX 600 index of leading European stocks was up 0.3 percent at 9:30 AM.

The London FTSE index increased by 0.26 percent to 8,193 points, while the Frankfurt DAX rose by 0.32 percent to 17,955 points, and the Paris CAC increased by 0.18 percent to 7,929 points.

Stock prices in the technology sector rose the most, averaging 0.8 percent.

On most Asian exchanges, stock prices also rose. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index, excluding Japan, was up about 1 percent, marking its second consecutive week of gains.

Stock prices in Australia and Hong Kong rose between 0.5 and 1.7 percent. In South Korea, however, they slightly fell, while trading on the Tokyo and Shanghai exchanges was closed due to holidays.

This morning, stock prices in the technology sector rose the most, particularly for Apple suppliers, as the tech giant reported better-than-expected results in the first quarter.

Although both revenues and earnings for Apple fell compared to the same period last year, they were higher than analysts had estimated.

As Apple also announced a stock buyback program worth a record $110 billion, the company’s stock price surged by about 7 percent.