S&P500: Benchmark Nears Record High as Broadcom, Banks Drive US Stocks

Stocks Push Higher as Earnings and Easing Tensions Drive the Rally

Geopolitical fear is coming out of this market. Iran conflict tensions may be easing and traders are buying it. Earnings are doing the rest.

Technical Outlook

The S&P 500 Index opened steady-to-better Wednesday, edging toward the record high at 7002.28. Minor support is Monday’s bottom at 6790.02, followed by the 50-day moving average at 6761.07 and the 2https://www.fxempire.com/indices/us30-usd00-day moving average at 6674.79.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is pushing higher as traders build on Monday’s breakout over the 50-day moving average at 47959.29 and the 61.8% level at 48428.79. The daily chart shows the path of least resistance is up with 49815.22 as the near-term target.

Buyers are driving the Nasdaq Composite higher as the tech rally continues. The next objective is the all-time high at 24019.99. With the index moving nearly vertical, minor support sits at 22795.82 and major support at the 50-day moving average at 22497.54 and the 200-day moving average at 22461.81.

Broadcom and Banks Lead the Move

Broadcom jumped more than 2% after announcing an expanded partnership with Meta Platforms to produce custom chips at significantly larger scale. That’s an AI semiconductor story and the market treated it that way.

Bank of America gained over 1% after first-quarter results beat expectations on both earnings and revenue. Strong trading activity drove it. Morgan Stanley climbed about 2% on the same story. Trading revenues came in better than expected again. Two of the biggest banks in the country just told you capital markets are healthy.

Tech and Retail Names Add to the Gains

Snap surged more than 5% after announcing plans to cut up to 16% of its workforce. The street read it as a move toward profitability and bid it up. GitLab jumped over 5% on an expanded partnership with Google to deliver AI tools through cloud services. Robinhood and Webull both rallied after reports surfaced that regulators may ease day trading limits for retail investors. That’s a volume story and traders jumped on it. PNC Financial Services missed on revenue and slipped. Micron Technology pulled back as investors took profits after a strong run.

Indexes Are at the Door

The S&P 500 Index is within striking distance of the record high at 7002.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite are both pointed in the same direction and supporting the trend. Tech has run hard and that raises the risk of a brief pullback if anything disappoints. Earnings and geopolitical headlines are driving this market. As long as both stay cooperative the record high is in range and traders know it.

More Information in our Economic Calendar.