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What’s happening: The Nasdaq 100 added more than 1% on Thursday, driven by gains in shares of Meta Platforms and Microsoft.
What happened: Both tech majors reported stronger-than-expected results for the latest quarter, easing worries over their spend on artificial intelligence.
Microsoft’s shares settled at their strongest level since late January, while Meta closed at its highest mark since April 9.
How were the results: Microsoft reported a 13% year-over-year surge in its quarterly revenues, while Meta posted 16% gains.
Why it matters: Microsoft saw revenue growth across various cloud segments, with total cloud revenues growing 20% year-over-year to $42.4 billion in the quarter.
Meta’s recent results were boosted by an upbeat advertising performance. Ad impressions surged 5% year-over-year during the quarter, while average price per ad rose by 10%.
Better-than-expected quarterly results from both tech giants eased concerns around heavy AI spending not yielding the desired gains. The results also eased worries about growth being impacted by tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Tariffs have been the highlight of the current earnings season, with various companies cutting or withdrawing their guidance due to uncertainty.
However, economic reports released on Thursday signalled a mixed picture. Jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 241,000 in the week ending April 26, the highest level since February. Although the ISM manufacturing PMI fell to 48.7 in April, from 49.0 in the previous month, it came in above market estimates of 48.
The latest reports followed Wednesday’s data, which showed the US economy shrank for the first time in three years, by 0.3% in the first quarter.
Tech and communication services stocks were among the top performers on Thursday, gaining 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively.
The Dow Jones index added 0.21% to close at 40,752.96 on Thursday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.63% to 5,604.14, with both stock indices recording gains for the eighth session in a row. The Nasdaq 100 jumped 1.1% to settle at 19,786.71.
What to watch: Investors will continue monitoring tariff-related announcements from the Trump administration.
Data on nonfarm payrolls (NFP) (1630 UAE Time) and factory orders (1800 UAE Time) will be released today. The US economy, which added 228,000 jobs in March, is expected to add 130,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 4.2%. New orders for US manufactured goods, which rose by 0.6% in February, are expected to grow 4.5% in March.
Context: The EUR/USD forex pair edged higher this morning amid weakness in the US dollar.
Details: The euro had a good run in April, adding more than 5% versus the US dollar.
Economic data released on Thursday showed that the Eurozone economy expanded by a better-than-expected rate of 0.4% in the first quarter, driven by upbeat domestic demand.
Headline inflation in Germany slowed to 2.1% in April, while core inflation edged higher. The annual inflation rate in France remained unchanged at 0.8%.
Some weakness in the US dollar lent support to the EUR/USD forex pair this morning. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, fell around 0.1% to 100.11.
The EUR/USD pair rose around 0.1% to 1.1300 this morning, while the EUR/GBP pair slipped around 0.1% to 0.8499.
What to watch: Investors await the release of data on Eurozone’s HCOB manufacturing PMI (1200 UAE Time), inflation rate (1300 UAE Time) and unemployment rate (1300 UAE Time) today. Eurozone’s annual inflation rate, which eased to 2.2% in March from 2.3% in the previous month, is expected to slow further to 2.1% in April.
The bloc’s unemployment rate, which fell to a new low of 6.1% in February, is expected to remain unchanged in March. Analysts expect the HCOB Eurozone manufacturing PMI to increase to 48.7 in April, from 48.6 in March.
Other Markets: Asian indices traded higher this morning, with the Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng Index up by 0.69% and 1.31%, respectively.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, emphasising his commitment to providing support to end the war. The news sent the RUB/USD pair slightly lower in forex trading this morning.
Australia’s retail sales grew by 0.3% in March, after a 0.2% gain in the previous month, which lent support to the AUD/USD forex pair.
Philippines’ S&P Global manufacturing PMI climbed to 53 in April, from 49.4 in the previous month, sending the PHP/USD pair higher in forex trading this morning.
New Zealand’s building permits surged by 9.6% to 3,398 units in March. This being the highest growth since July 2024 lent support to the NZD/USD forex pair.
Japan’s unemployment rate rose to 2.5% in March, from February’s reading of 2.4%, sending the JPY/USD pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Italy’s unemployment rate (1200 UAE Time), South Africa’s ABSA manufacturing PMI (1300 UAE Time), Mexico’s foreign exchange reserves (1500 UAE Time), business confidence (1600 UAE Time) and S&P Global manufacturing PMI (1900 UAE Time), India’s foreign exchange reserves (1530 UAE Time), Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves (1530 UAE Time), US average hourly earnings (1630 UAE Time), participation rate (1630 UAE Time), manufacturing payrolls (1630 UAE Time), Baker Hughes oil rig count (2100 UAE Time) and Baker Hughes total rigs count (2100 UAE Time), Brazil’s S&P Global manufacturing PMI (1700 UAE Time), Singapore’s SIPMM manufacturing PMI (1700 UAE Time), as well as Argentina’s tax revenue (2300 UAE Time).
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