Stocks in the United States rose the highest in seven weeks on the strength of solid results, extending a period of market volatility that has lasted nearly the whole year.
Amazon.com Inc.'s shares fell 10% in late trade after the company reported earnings. Intel Corp. fell 5% as a result of a disappointing sales estimate.
The S&P 500 gained more than 2% in the cash session for its biggest day since March 9th, while the Nasdaq 100 gained more than 3%. After Facebook attracted more users than expected, Meta jumped 18%, the highest gain since 2013. Paypal Holdings Inc. jumped 11% on a sales beat, Qualcomm Inc. led the way higher in US chip stocks, while Twitter Inc. missed revenue projections due to a slowdown in advertising.
The rebound occurred when investors observed evidence of strong consumer demand obscured by the unexpected decrease in GDP growth last quarter, the first since 2020. The rise lifted the S&P 500 for the week, but it is still down more than 5% in April, on track to be the worst month since the 1987 bear market. Volatility has been a recurring element in markets this year, with investors concerned about China's fight to curb COVID, Russia's war in Ukraine, and fears that central-bank tightening may tip the US economy into recession.
Nonetheless, a decline in GDP figures might hamper attempts to battle inflation, as a widening trade imbalance and slower inventory growth are undermining an otherwise strong consumer and corporate demand picture.
Treasuries recovered their losses, with the 10-year benchmark yield remaining unchanged. Oil prices have risen to more than $105 a barrel. In currency markets, the yen's drop to a 20-year low may herald a rewrite of the global currency playbook. The offshore yuan fell, the euro and pound fell, and the ice dollar index reached a two-decade high.
According to customized investment organization, Nasdaq's average daily rise over the last 100 trading days hit close to 1.6%, the highest such number since the early days of the pandemic. Apart from the pandemic, only four previous times have averaged such daily volatility: the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis, and 2011. "Volatility, like we've witnessed in the last four months, doesn't happen all that often," bespoke strategists wrote in a note.
Natural gas prices in Europe fell after two days of rise as purchasers sought ways to continue receiving supplies from Russia without violating sanctions. Members of the European Union are pressing the organization to provide firmer direction on Russia's demand for payments in rubles, and Germany has indicated that it is open to a phased-in ban on Russian oil imports.
