[New York Stock Market] Tech Stocks Including Alphabet Rally... Nasdaq Up 2%

The New York stock market closed higher as big tech companies posted earnings that exceeded market expectations.

On the 26th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 38,239.66, up 153.86 points (0.40%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose 51.54 points (1.02%) to 5,099.96, and the Nasdaq index closed at 15,927.90, up 316.14 points (2.03%) from the previous session.

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Big tech companies boosted investor sentiment on the day. Alphabet, Google's parent company, surged 10.2%, surpassing a market capitalization of $2 trillion. Its earnings report released the previous afternoon exceeded market expectations. The announcement of its first-ever dividend plan also appeared to have an impact. Alphabet also revealed a $70 billion share repurchase plan. Microsoft (MS), the largest U.S. company by market capitalization, also beat earnings expectations. Its cloud service revenue surged 31%, pushing its stock price up 1.8% that day. Nvidia's stock rose 6.2%, buoyed by the strong performances of MS and Alphabet. Amazon.com gained over 3%. Meta Platforms (Facebook) continued to decline but turned to a slight increase. Micron Technology's stock rose over 2% after the U.S. government announced a $6.1 billion subsidy to support semiconductor factory construction the previous day. Intel's stock plunged 9% as its first-quarter earnings failed to meet Wall Street expectations.

The core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, a preferred inflation gauge of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), rose 2.8% year-over-year, exceeding the market forecast of a 2.7% increase.

On April 30 and May 1, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will decide on monetary policy. The market expects interest rates to remain unchanged this time.