Stock indexes in the United States settled marginally lower on Friday’s closing bell while global investors are enduring corporate earnings and fiscal data. However it posted strong gains for the whole month of April.
The NASDAQ composite notches its all-time high before finishing 1.33 points lower at 6,047.61 on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost more than 40 points at 20,940.20; Goldman Sachs and Intel are the leading decliners. Meanwhile the S&P 500 was 4.75 points lower at 2,384.20.
In economic news, Friday was considered as the big day for fiscal data. The economic health of the United States advanced in the first quarter by 0.7 percent. A Reuter’s poll however forecasted a 1.2 percent growth. In other reported economic figures, the Chicago PMI was surprisingly higher and the read for April regarding consumer sentiment slightly elevated.
On earnings, some of the notable S&P 500 companies that posted their results on Friday are: Alphabet with an EPS of $7.73 on revenue of $24.75 billion, General Motors with an EPS of $1.70 on sales of $41.2 billion and Amazon with an EPS of $1.48 on sales of $35.7 billion.
Most of the gains came this week, time when corporate earnings season continued to unveil the best performances from the world’s major companies. State Street Global Advisors’ chief investment strategist Michael Arone says the earnings and minimized stress over the policy plan seemed to control the market this week.
At the same time, investors are thinking about the plans of the White House for the future tax reform. The deal will cut the corporate tax rate by 15 percent versus the previous 35 percent.