Benzinga - by Piero Cingari, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Stocks surged higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 index aiming to snap a four-day losing streak as investors assess the latest wave of corporate earnings.
During midday trading in New York, all major indices were in the green. Notably, small caps, as tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), outperformed, posting a 1% increase.
Industry-wise, airline stocks continued their upward momentum, with the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE:JETS) climbing 2.7%, building on Wednesday’s 3.9% surge.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) had another lackluster session, declining over 3% and on track for its lowest close since January 2023. This decline followed Deutsche Bank’s downgrade of the EV-maker from Buy to Hold, citing concerns over the strategic pivot to autonomous vehicles.
On the data front, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index posted a sharp upside surprise, registering at 15.5 compared to the expected 1.5 for April. However, existing home sales disappointed expectations, declining 4.3% year over year.
Commodities experienced a rebound, with copper witnessing strong gains, up over 2% to reach a 22-month high, and gold showing further strength with a 1% increase. Natural gas prices rallied over 3% due to slower than expected inventory builds last week.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rallied 4% to reach $63,700 ahead of the highly anticipated halving event.
Thursday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg |
| Russell 2000 | 1,964.69 | 0.9% |
| Dow Jones | 37,894.26 | 0.4% |
| S&P 500 | 5,038.47 | 0.3% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 17,526.21 | 0.2% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) rose 0.4% to $502.25, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) also rose 0.4% to $379.08 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) inched 0.2% up to $426.62, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Sector-wise, the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) outperformed, up 1.2%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) was the major laggard, down 0.4%.
Thursday’s Stock Movers
- Discovery Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) rose 3.6% following the company’s first quarter results. Peer Capital One Company (NYSE:COF) mimicked the move ahead of next week’s earnings release.
- Other stocks reacting to earnings were Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC), up over 12%, Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK), up over 5%, Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX), down 2%, Comerica, Inc. (NYSE:CMA), up over 3%, Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY), up over 8%, D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI), up over 2%, KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), down 0.4%, and Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC), up over 3%.
- Notable names reporting after the close are Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX).
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