Wall Street climbs on earnings strength as Europe trades thin amid May Day closures
U.S. stocks rose on Friday as a strong stream of corporate earnings and outlooks extended a recent rally, with investors looking past the ongoing stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz. The advance left the S&P 500 on track for a fifth straight week of gains.
Apple climbed after issuing a solid outlook, while Estée Lauder gained more than 3.7 percent after unveiling plans to cut up to 3,000 additional jobs and target a further $200 million in savings to support its turnaround. Exxon Mobil slipped more than 1 percent to around $152 in afternoon trading despite stronger-than-expected results, as the company reported a sharp decline in net income tied to Middle East disruption.
U.S. crude fell to about $102 on reports that Iran delivered a new proposal to the United States amid efforts to turn a fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace. Wall Street has largely brushed off concerns about the war’s potential economic fallout, with signs of corporate resilience driving stocks to their best month since 2020.
About 81 percent of S&P 500 companies have topped first-quarter estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Across Europe, trading was subdued with many markets closed for the May Day holiday. The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed. In London, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 percent to 10,363.93, while the FTSE 250 rose 0.3 percent.
AstraZeneca dropped 3.1 percent to 13,512p after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted against recommending an experimental breast cancer treatment the company has described as central to its long-term growth ambitions. NatWest reported a 12 percent rise in first-quarter profit, but its shares fell 3.4 percent to 565.6p after non-interest income came in 7 percent below analysts’ forecasts.
Pearson added 3.1 percent to 1,115p as demand for virtual learning products lifted underlying group sales by 4 percent in the first quarter. Unilever advanced 2.6 percent to a one-month high of 4,407p, and Rolls-Royce gained 1.5 percent to 1,199.2p, extending gains after reiterating its profit outlook.
Diageo finished 0.7 percent higher at 82.14p, having risen as much as 2.8 percent earlier after U.S. president Donald Trump said he was removing tariffs on UK-made whiskey. Leading Irish shares performed strongly ahead of Monday’s bank holiday. Kerry rose 3.36 percent to €72.20, while Ryanair added 1.54 percent to €22.42 on speculation that Middle East tensions could ease following reports of Iranian overtures to the U.S.
Airlines have struggled for several weeks as the ongoing closure of Hormuz drove up jet fuel prices, prompting some carriers to cancel peak season flights; no Irish airline has yet axed services as a consequence. Bank of Ireland climbed 1.92 percent to €16.74 and AIB was up 0.82 percent at €9.798.
Elsewhere in Europe, Air France-KLM rose 3.8 percent to €9.06 and BMW edged up 0.4 percent to €77.92. Friday’s gains reinforced a broad U.S. equity advance underpinned by better-than-expected earnings, leaving the S&P 500 on course for a fifth consecutive weekly rise and capping the market’s strongest month since 2020.