U.S. Major Averages Halt 4-week Rally, Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Advance In April

Barry Adams
24 May, 2024
New York City

Stocks headed higher in Friday's trading, and the yield on Treasury notes held firm amid growing interest rate anxieties and the steady push back of the start of rate cuts. 

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite advanced in Friday's trading, and tech stocks extended declines for the second day in a row on the ongoing rate jitters. 

The broader market failed to participate in the rally sparked by the over-the-top earnings from Nvidia as investors kept worrying about the future direction of interest rates. 

Nvidia reported a fourfold increase in its revenue and a five-fold jump in earnings in its latest quarter, sparking a rally in artificial intelligence technology-related companies, including Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, and Facebook parent Meta Platforms. 

But the enthusiasm failed to lift other technology stocks, and the market rally in Thursday's morning turned to losses by the end of the session. 

Moreover, investors are estimating that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates only once, and that cut may happen after the last meeting of policymakers on December 18, 2024. 

 

Durable Goods Orders Rise Third Consecutive Month in April 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in April increased $1.9 billion, or 0.7%, from the previous month to $284.1 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. 

This followed a downwardly revised 0.8% increase in March. 

Excluding transportation, new orders increased by 0.4%, and excluding defense, new orders were nearly unchanged. 

Orders for durable goods rose 1.2% on an annual basis. 

The increase in new orders for durable goods was primarily driven by the 1.2% increase in transportation orders. 

Non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, the proxy for business spending, increased 0.3% in April after falling 0.1% in March. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index rose 0.4% to 5,288.17, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.5% to 16,819.89. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.95%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.49%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged higher to 4.59%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.60 to $77.45 a barrel, and natural gas prices declined 8 cents to $2.57 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $7.61 to $2,339.58 an ounce, and silver rose 26 cents to $30.65. 

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 104.81.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Ross Stores increased 8.4% to $142.78 after the discount apparel retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly results. 

Intuit declined 8% to $609.37 after the tax software company estimated weaker-than-expected revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter. 

Workday declined 11.6% to $230.56 after the enterprise management company lowered its subscription revenue estimate for the full year to $1.895 billion.