By
Svetlana Soroka
April 18th, 2024
US stock indices continue to rally further amid strong earnings reports. A staggering 83% of the S&P 500 companies have reported earnings beating Street estimates.
The mega bull run on Wall Street continues as the US stock indices, Dow Jones (INDEXDJX: .DJI) and S&P 500 (INDEXSP: .INX), hit new record highs over the last two consecutive days. The continued rally comes on the backdrop of strong corporate earnings.
Market analysts believe that the newly instilled investor confidence can push markets even higher by the year-end. On Tuesday, November 2, the Dow Jones added another 138 points shooting past 36,000 levels. Similarly, the S&P 500 also surged to record high levels of 4,630 levels.
At the same time, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also opposed major gains closing 0.3% up at 15,649 levels. Explaining the continued bull run, Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist for the Leuthold Group said:
“Fundamentals are probably at the epicenter of why the stock market keeps rising. The earnings season overall is turning out to be much stronger than anticipated. While many companies are warning that supply restrictions are a problem, most have nonetheless been able to raise prices, maintain strong profit margins, and take full advantage of healthy demand with greater sales results. Fears of overwhelming profit margin erosion simply did not happen.”
Despite supply chain issues, investors continue to bet on the year-end rally. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve is all set to pull back on its stimulus measures very soon. The US Central Bank will soon start its two-day meeting from Tuesday onwards. The Fed is likely to unwind its $120 billion bond purchase program implemented during the pandemic times.
Top Performing Stocks that Push US Stock Indices Higher
Shares of drugmaker Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) gained a record 4% on Tuesday closing at $45.45 levels. This happened as the company’s Q3 2021 profits topped Street estimations.
Athletic retailer Under Armour (NYSE: UAA) hiked its annual outlook with its share price soaring 16.4% on Tuesday. Under CEO Patrik Frisk the company is all set to improve its brand image.
Better-than-expected corporate earnings have boosted the US stock averages to record highs. A staggering 83% of S&P 500 companies that have reported their last quarter earnings have topped analysts’ expectations.
After a strong rally earlier on Monday, the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares cooled down a bit. On Tuesday, shares of the automobile giant were down 3%. However, the TSLA share price has shot up by 50% over the last month.
As per historical trends, the S&P 500 has gained an average of 1.1% in the month of November and 2.3% in December. The Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) also notes that since 1936, the final month of the year has ended ni green 79% of the time.