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Wall Street closed sharply higher on Thursday following the progress of debt ceiling negotiations. Strong earnings results have also strengthened market participants’ confidence on risky assets like equities. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 0.3% or 115.14 points to close at 33,535.91. Notably, 21 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, nine in negative zone. The blue-chip index was down more than 262 points at intraday low.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 12,688.84, climbing 1.5% or 188.27 points due to strong performance of large-cap technology stocks. The tech-laden index has registered its highest closing since Aug 25, 2022.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.9% to end at 4,198.05, marking its highest closing since August 2022. Seven out of 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in positive territory while four ended in negative zone. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY, the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) advanced 2.1%, 1.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 4.9% to 16.05. A total of 10.49 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 10.62 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.31-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.14-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
Positive Development on Debt Ceiling
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that he is optimistic about a Congressional agreement for $31.4 trillion Federal debt when the issue will come for voting next week. According to him, “I see the path that we can come to an agreement. And I think we have a structure now and everybody’s working hard, and I mean, we’re working two or three times a day, then going back, getting more numbers.”
President Joe Biden has decided to curtail its tour in Asia where he plans to attend the Group of Seven summit. He will return to Washington before the day scheduled to speed up the debt ceiling negotiation process.
Strong Earnings Results
Walmart Inc. (WMT - Free Report) came out with robust first-quarter fiscal 2024 results. Adjusted earnings of $1.47 per share increased 13.1% from the year-ago period’s figure of $1.30. The metric surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.32. Total revenues of $152.3 billion grew 7.6% and beat the consensus mark of $149.7 billion.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO - Free Report) reported third-quarter fiscal 2023 non-GAAP earnings of $1 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.09%. The bottom line increased 15% year over year. Revenues increased 13.5% year over year to $14.57 billion and beat the consensus mark by 1.27%.
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS - Free Report) reported second-quarter fiscal 2023 non-GAAP earnings of $2.54 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.47. The bottom line improved 1.6% year over year. Revenues jumped 9.1% year over year to $1.4 billion, driven by growth across its business segments. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.38 billion by 1.1%.
Consequently, shares of Walmart, Cisco and Synopsys surged 1.3%, 1.2% and 8.7%, respectively. Synopsys carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
The Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims decreased 22,000 to 242,000 for the week ended May 13, lower than the consensus estimate of 255,000. Continuing Claims (those who already received government benefit) for the week ended May 6, came in at 1.799 million — a decrease of 8,000 from downward revision of 1.813 million in the previous week.
The National Association of REALTORS reported that existing home sales came in at 4.28 million unis in April, lagging the consensus estimate of 4.31 million units. The metric for March was revised marginally downward to 4.43 million units from 4.44 million units.
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Stock Market News for May 19, 2023
Wall Street closed sharply higher on Thursday following the progress of debt ceiling negotiations. Strong earnings results have also strengthened market participants’ confidence on risky assets like equities. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 0.3% or 115.14 points to close at 33,535.91. Notably, 21 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, nine in negative zone. The blue-chip index was down more than 262 points at intraday low.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 12,688.84, climbing 1.5% or 188.27 points due to strong performance of large-cap technology stocks. The tech-laden index has registered its highest closing since Aug 25, 2022.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.9% to end at 4,198.05, marking its highest closing since August 2022. Seven out of 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in positive territory while four ended in negative zone. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY, the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) advanced 2.1%, 1.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 4.9% to 16.05. A total of 10.49 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 10.62 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.31-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.14-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
Positive Development on Debt Ceiling
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that he is optimistic about a Congressional agreement for $31.4 trillion Federal debt when the issue will come for voting next week. According to him, “I see the path that we can come to an agreement. And I think we have a structure now and everybody’s working hard, and I mean, we’re working two or three times a day, then going back, getting more numbers.”
President Joe Biden has decided to curtail its tour in Asia where he plans to attend the Group of Seven summit. He will return to Washington before the day scheduled to speed up the debt ceiling negotiation process.
Strong Earnings Results
Walmart Inc. (WMT - Free Report) came out with robust first-quarter fiscal 2024 results. Adjusted earnings of $1.47 per share increased 13.1% from the year-ago period’s figure of $1.30. The metric surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.32. Total revenues of $152.3 billion grew 7.6% and beat the consensus mark of $149.7 billion.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO - Free Report) reported third-quarter fiscal 2023 non-GAAP earnings of $1 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.09%. The bottom line increased 15% year over year. Revenues increased 13.5% year over year to $14.57 billion and beat the consensus mark by 1.27%.
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS - Free Report) reported second-quarter fiscal 2023 non-GAAP earnings of $2.54 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.47. The bottom line improved 1.6% year over year. Revenues jumped 9.1% year over year to $1.4 billion, driven by growth across its business segments. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.38 billion by 1.1%.
Consequently, shares of Walmart, Cisco and Synopsys surged 1.3%, 1.2% and 8.7%, respectively. Synopsys carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
The Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims decreased 22,000 to 242,000 for the week ended May 13, lower than the consensus estimate of 255,000. Continuing Claims (those who already received government benefit) for the week ended May 6, came in at 1.799 million — a decrease of 8,000 from downward revision of 1.813 million in the previous week.
The National Association of REALTORS reported that existing home sales came in at 4.28 million unis in April, lagging the consensus estimate of 4.31 million units. The metric for March was revised marginally downward to 4.43 million units from 4.44 million units.