Day Traders Diary

4/27/23

The major averages surged with the Dow and S&P 500 having their best day since January thanks to strong results from Meta Platforms. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 524 points, or 1.57%, to close at 33,826. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 287 points or 2.43% to finish at 12,142 while the S&P 500 climbed 79 points or 1.96% to end at 4,13.

Meta shares leapt 13.9% after the company reported quarterly revenue that topped expectations and issued an upbeat forecast. Several analysts hiked their price targets following the release. Shares of other tech-related names such as Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Apple also popped.

The U.S. economy grew 1.1% in the first quarter, while economists polled by Dow Jones forecasted an expansion of 2%. The report also showed stronger-than-expected inflation, with prices increasing 4% compared with a consensus estimate of 3.7%.

Honeywell, an industrial bellwether, added more than 4% on the back of a quarterly report that was better than Wall Street expected. Teladoc and Comcast were among the other companies trading higher after releasing earnings reports.

However, Caterpillar, another barometer of the global economy, fell around 0.9% as investors feared a build-up in inventory suggests demand is slowing.

The Dow and S&P 500 are slightly above their flatlines for the week-to-date, while the Nasdaq has gained 0.6% over the same period. But the Nasdaq has lagged on a month-to-date basis, shedding 0.7% while the Dow and S&P 500 rose 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively, since April began.