Wall Street pushed higher in midday trading, with the S&P 500 on track for its eighth consecutive gain — its longest winning streak since November 2023. The index rose about 1% to 5,560, fully recovering the losses sustained after former President Donald Trump announced trade tariffs on April 2.
Technology stocks led the rally, with the Nasdaq 100 climbing 1.5%. Strong and resilient corporate earnings continue to fuel investor appetite for risk, helping markets shrug off recent tariff concerns.
President Trump reassured investors, stating that progress on trade negotiations is going “very well” and that the timeline for the tax bill remains on schedule.
On the economic front, data continued to paint a weaker picture. After Wednesday’s disappointing first-quarter GDP report, the ISM manufacturing PMI showed factory activity contracted for the second straight month in April. Meanwhile, price pressures surged at the fastest pace since June 2022, reflecting inflationary effects from tariffs.
Microsoft Corp. MSFT was a standout gainer, soaring 8.60% after delivering a blowout quarter that beat expectations across the board, reinforcing its leadership in cloud and AI. The stock reached its highest level since late January.
Meta Platforms Inc. META also topped estimates, with shares climbing more than 4%.
Sector-wise, technology outperformed, while health care lagged. Eli Lilly And Co. LLY plunged over 10% after the pharmaceutical giant cut its 2025 guidance.
Crude oil erased early losses, rebounding to $58 per barrel after briefly dipping below $57. Gold slipped 2.2% to a two-week low.
The U.S. dollar strengthened to its highest level in over two weeks, bolstered by manufacturing surveys showing rising input costs tied to tariffs.
Treasury yields climbed for a second straight session, with the 10-year yield rising to 4.21%.
Bitcoin BTC/USD surged past the $97,000 mark, hitting its highest level in over two months.
| Major Indices | Price | % chg. |
| Nasdaq 100 | 19,853.70 | + 1.5% |
| S&P 500 | 5,614.89 | + 0.9% |
| Russell 2000 | 1,971.76 | + 0.4% |
| Dow Jones | 40,802.25 | + 0.3% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 1% to $560.02.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.5% to $408.25.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rose 1.6% to $483.23.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM inched 0.5% higher to $195.71.
- The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK outperformed, up 2.6%; the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund XLV lagged, down 2.3%.
Stocks reacting to earnings reports included:
- Microsoft Corp.: up 8.60%
- Meta Platforms Inc.: up 4.60%
- Mastercard Inc. MA: down 0.3%
- Eli Lilly and Co. LLY: down 10.10%
- Equinix Inc. EQIX: down 0.4%
- Parker-Hannifin Corp. PH: up 0.7%
- Qualcomm Inc. QCOM: down 7.95%
- CVS Health Corp. CVS: up 6.04%
- Prudential Financial Inc. PRU: down 0.88%
- Aptiv PLC APTV: up 1.19%
- MetLife Inc. MET: up 0.4%
- Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. CTSH: up 3.71%
- AvalonBay Communities Inc. AVB: up 0.15%
- Vici Properties Inc. VICI: down 1.72%
- American Water Works Co. Inc. AWK: down 0.3%
- UDR Inc. UDR: up 0.1%
- Invitation Homes Inc. INVH: up 2.78%
- Ventas Inc. VTR: down 6.44%
- Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. MAA: up 1.52%
- Crown Castle Inc. CCI: up 0.3%
- Prologis Inc. PLD: up 1.31%
- American Tower Corp. AMT: down 0.2%
- Public Storage PSA: up 0.4%
- Kimco Realty Corp. KIM: up 5.36%
- Equity Residential EQR: up 0.2%
- BXP BXP: up 1.74%
- Digital Realty Trust Inc. DLR: up 0.5%
- Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. ARE: up 1.43%
- Iron Mountain Inc. IRM: up 3.08%
- Healthpeak Properties Inc. DOC: up 0.056%
- Welltower Inc. WELL: down 1.48%
- Realty Income Corp. O: down 0.66%
Stocks slated to report earnings after the bell include Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, Apple Inc. AAPL, Amgen Inc. AMGN, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG, Airbnb Inc. ABNB, Motorola Solutions Inc. MSI, EOG Resources Inc. EOG, American International Group Inc. AIG, Consolidated Edison Inc. ED, Ingersoll Rand Inc. IR, DexCom Inc. DXCM, Monolithic Power Systems Inc. MPWR, Ameren Corp. AEE, GoDaddy Inc. GDDY, Mettler-Toledo International Inc. MTD, Eversource Energy ES, Hologic Inc. HOLX, Mohawk Industries Inc. MHK, Camden Property Trust CPT and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. LYV.
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