The major averages finished in the red in the last trading day of April and it remains to be seen if investors will follow the old adage to "sell in May and go away" when the calendar flips. Wall Street notched another round of gains yesterday, with the S&P 500 rising to a new record close, leaving stocks ripe for a little profit taking going into the weekend and month end.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., personal income soared a record 21.1% in March, with spending rising 3.6%. The Chicago PMI rose 5.8 points to a robust 72.1 reading in April that was much stronger than forecast. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading rose to 88.3 in the final April reading versus the 86.5 preliminary print from the survey, beating expectations. In energy news, Baker Hughes reported that the U.S. rig count is up 2 from last week to 440 with oil rigs down 1 to 342.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that President Joe Biden is expected to impose new travel restrictions on India that will bar most non-U.S. citizens from entering the United States on the advice of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
TOP NEWS: Amazon (AMZN) shares fell fractionall after the e-commerce giant reported better than expected first quarter earnings and revenue, with the company reporting year-over-year growth in Amazon Web Services net sales and a 70% increase in streaming hours for its Prime Video service. Looking ahead, Amazon provided upbeat revenue guidance for the second quarter, noting that its guidance assumes that Prime Day occurs in the quarter.
Shares of oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) fell a respective 2.9% and 3.6% after both companies reported slightly better than expected quarterly results. Of note, Exxon Mobil said the Texas winter storm reduced Q1 earnings by $600M.
Twitter (TWTR) shares dropped 15.2% after the social media company posted upbeat quarterly results but provided a lower than expected Q2 revenue outlook. Of note, the company reported average monetizable daily active users of 199M in Q1, up from 166M in the same quarter a year ago.
In other earnings news, AbbVie (ABBV) was in focus after the company reported upbeat Q1 results and raised its fiscal year adjusted earnings guidance, with CEO Richard Gonzalez saying the company is "off to an excellent start to 2021."
In COVID-19 news, Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) announced they have submitted a variation to the Conditional Marketing Authorization, or CMA, in the European Union to the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine COMIRNATY to request an extension of the indication for use in adolescents 12-15 years of age. If the EMA approves the variation, the amended authorization will be valid in all 27 member states of the EU.
Meanwhile, Coinbase (COIN) shares gained 1% after the company announced the acquisition of Skew, an institutional data visualization and analytics platform for crypto markets.
Additionally, shares of Intel (INTC) fell 1.3% as Sportico reported that the company is exploring a sale of its Intel Sports Group, which builds three-dimensional, 360-degree video through an array of cameras installed in a stadium or arena.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Community Health (CYH), which rose 7.4% after Credit Suisse analyst A.J. Rice raised the firm’s price target on the stock to $10 from $4.10 and upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform on the heels of the company's recent earnings report. Also higher was Digital Turbine (APPS), which gained 4.2% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Ardelyx (ARDX), which declined 13.3% after reporting the Prescription Drug User Fee Act date for tenapanor was delayed by three months to July 29. Also lower was MicroVision (MVIS), which fell 15.3% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 185.51, or 0.54%, to 33,874.85, the Nasdaq lost 119.86, or 0.85%, to 13,962.68, and the S&P 500 declined 30.30, or 0.72%, to 4,181.17.
