The New York Stock Exchange ended a session rich in results from robust companies on Thursday sharply higher.
According to final results at the close, the Dow Jones index gained 1.85% to 33,916.39 points. The Nasdaq climbed 3.06% to 12,871.53 points. The S&P 500 rose 2.47% to 4,287.50 points.
“US stocks ended solidly higher, with technology stocks leading the way, amid another strong earnings session,” Schwab analysts said.
Facebook (Meta), which had announced better than expected profits the day before, was the star of the show, the action climbing 17.59% to 205.73 dollars. This notably allowed the Nasdaq to post its best session in six weeks.
On the macro-economic level, investors were hardly concerned by the disappointing first estimate of the Gross Domestic Product of the United States for the first quarter of 2022.
US GDP contracted 1.4% year-on-year as inflation weighs on consumer spending.
This unexpected halt, while analysts were still hoping for growth of 1.1% from January to March, comes in the context of inflation exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and persistent supply problems.
Twitter climbed 0.97% to $49.11. The group, which is to come under the leadership of Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla, announced on Thursday a turnover slightly below expectations in the first quarter but a significant growth in its number of employees. subscribers.
The social network, which is to be bought for 44 billion dollars and which is undoubtedly one of the last account publications since Elon Musk wants to delist it, recorded from January to March 1.20 billion dollars in revenues, less than the 1.22 billion expected by the market.
Its number of active users rose to 229 million, better than the anticipated 226.1.
McDonald’s was praised (+2.85% to 254.19 dollars), exceeding expectations in the first quarter thanks in particular to increases in the prices of its menus and despite 127 million dollars in costs linked to the suspension of its activities in Russia. The fast-food chain saw its turnover increase by 11% over the period, to 5.7 billion dollars.
The title of the American manufacturer of machinery, equipment and construction equipment Caterpillar fell slightly (-0.71% to 212.44 dollars), despite better than expected results, thanks to strong demand.
But the construction equipment giant expects less growth in its activities in China.
The American laboratory Merck saw its shares jump 4.94% to 88.58 dollars as its results were boosted by its new anti-Covid treatment molnupiravir, which it sold for 3.2 billion dollars, and by its cancer drug Keytruda.
Revenue for the company, known as MSD outside North America, rose 50% over the period to $15.9 billion. Net profit soared 57% to $4.2 billion.
All S&P sectors ended in the green, led by information technology (+4.04%), communications (+3.88%), energy (+3.13%) while oil prices ended up.
After the close, however, Amazon delivered bad news, posting a quarterly loss on its investment in automaker Rivian. In post-market trading, the stock fell more than 9% to $2,610.
Apple, on the other hand, advanced 1.69% to 166 dollars in trading following the close. The firm at the apple achieved a turnover up 9% over one year from January to March, growth certainly slowed down but better than expected.
In the bond market, yields on 10-year Treasury bills were stable at 1.83%.
Nasdaq
