US Stocks Rise On Budget Hopes, Inflation Data

All benchmark US indices closed the week with modest gains on Friday as investors weighed the Federal Reserve’s new inflation data and President Joe Biden’s first federal fiscal budget for 2022.

The S&P 500 was up 0.08% to 4,204.11. The Dow Jones rose 0.19% to 34,529.45. The NASDAQ Composite Index gained 0.09% to 13,748.74, and the small-cap Russell 2000 shed 0.18% to 2,268.97.

Market sentiments were high as President Biden unveiled his first federal budget for the fiscal year 2022 later in the afternoon. The budget gives a big push to healthcare, climate mitigation, and infrastructure development projects, besides a slew of social security and welfare programs.  

Investors also took a cue from the Fed’s new inflation data that showed consumer prices, excluding food and energy, jumped 3.1% in April year on year. Demand for goods rose rapidly after the pandemic had crippled the supply chains, resulting in short supply of essential items and services.

Americans were on a spending spree after the government supplemented their income with stimulus checks. Economists anticipated no major rate hike in the short-term considering the data.

The S&P 500 registered gains for the month, while the NASDAQ Composite declined. All key 11 segments on the index rose, with the technology stocks leading the pack. Markets have been volatile this week as inflation and supply concerns continued to weigh investors’ minds.

Meme stocks AMC Entertainment (AMC) jumped over 26%, while GameStop (GME) rose 1.6%. Shares of cosmetics chain Ulta Beauty (ULTA) rose 5.4% after it reported a profit in its latest quarter. But shares of fashion retailer Express Inc. (EXPR) plunged 9.15%.

The stock of mining company Liberty Star (LBSR) skyrocketed 71%, and technology stock Hewlett-Packard tumbled 2.23%. Stocks of Apple (APPL) and Amazon (AMZN) were trading flat. In the crypto market, bitcoin fell 8.7% from Thursday’s close. Cryptocurrencies have been volatile this week.

Boeing Co. stock fell 1.44% after it announced a delivery delay in 787 Dreamliners. The stock of technology company NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) jumped by 4.9%.

S&P 500 segments real estate, utilities, technology, consumer non-cyclicals, end energy, progressed in Friday’s session while financials, industrials, basic materials, consumer cyclicals pulled back.

Also Read: President Biden’s FY22 Budget: What To Watch

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Top Gainers

Top performers on S&P 500 included Salesforce.Com Inc (5.43%), Ulta Beauty Inc (5.18%), NVIDIA Corp (4.88%), Xilinx Inc (3.24%). On NASDAQ, top performers were Vertex Energy Inc (95.74%), SemiLEDs Corp (44.86%), Mannatech Inc (26.07%), and Organovo Holdings Inc (20.82%). On Dow Jones, Salesforce.Com Inc (5.43%), Amgen Inc (1.12%), Chevron Corp (0.76%), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (0.51%) were the leaders.

 Top Losers

Top laggards on S&P 500 included HP Inc (-8.94%), Gap Inc (-4.84%), Dollar Tree Inc (-2.61%), and Costco Wholesale Corp (-2.38%). On NASDAQ, Shineco Inc (-41.01%), Moxian Inc (-37.39%), Provention Bio Inc (-28.75%), and Eton Pharmaceuticals Inc (-16.84%) were the losers. On Dow Jones, Boeing Co (-1.47%), Intel Corp (-1.06%), Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (-0.72%), and Apple Inc (-0.53%) were the laggards.

 Volume Movers

Top volume movers were Apple Inc (18.11M), Intel Corp (7.01M), Microsoft Corp (6.95M), Coca-Cola Co (5.98M), Cisco Systems Inc (5.84M), Merck & Co Inc (4.38M), Sundial Growers Inc (60.15M), Naked Brand Group Ltd (37.63M), Vertex Energy Inc (30.80M), Tilray Inc (14.58M), and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (9.09M).

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Futures & Commodities

Gold futures were up 0.42% to US$1,903.60 per ounce. Silver increased 0.43% to US$28.060 per ounce, while copper was up 0.19% to US$4.6718.

Brent oil futures dropped 0.27% to US$69.01 per barrel and WTI crude was down 0.28% to US$66.66.

Bond Market

The 30-year Treasury bond yields were down 1.17% to 2.263, while the 10-year bond yields decreased 1.82% to 1.581.

US Dollar Futures Index slightly increased 0.09% to US$90.040.