Merchants works on the ground of the New York Inventory Alternate (NYSE) on the opening bell in New York on April 30, 2026.
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Photographs
Shares rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 reaching a contemporary all-time intraday, as buyers reacted to upbeat earnings from Caterpillar and Alphabet.
The broad market index was final up 1%, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.9%, hitting a brand new all-time excessive as effectively. The blue-chip Dow added 844 factors, or 1.7%.
Caterpillar shares popped 10% on Thursday after the corporate better-than-expected quarterly figures, boosting the Dow. The commercial title, which is seen as a bellwether for the worldwide financial system, additionally upped its annual income outlook.
The report gives a glimmer of hope for the U.S. financial system, which noticed disappointing development within the first quarter. On Thursday, the Commerce Division reported that gross home product rose at a 2% annualized tempo within the interval. Whereas that was a rise from 0.5% within the fourth quarter of 2025, it was beneath the two.2% estimate.
Alongside Caterpillar, shares of Alphabet gained 9%, providing a lift to the broader market. That transfer got here after the corporate’s first-quarter income beat expectations. It additionally elevated its 2026 capital expenditure steering vary to as a lot as $190 billion.
Conversely, Meta and Microsoft misplaced 9% and 5%, respectively. Meta shares have been weighed down by the corporate’s newest capex, whereas consumer development disillusioned. The corporate additionally raised its capex spending for the yr. That was an identical level of concern for Microsoft, as shares have been beneath stress after the corporate stated spending will attain $190 billion as a consequence of excessive reminiscence prices.
“What was most necessary on the [“Magnificent Seven”] earnings is that we did not study something,” Tom Graff, Side’s chief funding officer, stated to CNBC, noting that whereas it is a constructive from a GDP perspective that hyperscalers are “spending all this cash on bodily infrastructure,” different issues stay, together with worries across the corporations’ valuations.
“One thing that we will maintain wrestling with till we all know by hook or by crook is: Does this AI spend in some unspecified time in the future flip into software-like margins, or does it probably not and we have to rethink these multiples,” Graff stated.
Even with the newest stress in sure tech names, the sector has helped put the broader market on tempo for a powerful month. The S&P 500 has risen about 10% month so far, placing the index on tempo for its finest month since November 2020. The Nasdaq is heading for a 13% bounce, monitoring for its finest month since April 2020. The Dow is ready to finish April with a greater than 6% acquire — its strongest month-to-month efficiency since November 2024.
S&P 500, month-to-date
