S&P 500 and Nasdaq end at records, logging best month since 2020

NEW YORK – Two key indices on Wall Street closed at new records April 30 – while also logging their best months since 2020 – on the back of optimism surrounding corporate earnings and still-resilient US economic growth.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 1 per cent to 7,209.01, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.9 per cent to 24,892.31. Both were all-time highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.6 per cent to close at 49,652.14.

“A lot of that comes down to corporate profits,” said Mr Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones, with many companies reporting their earnings.

“We also have an economy, looking at the (gross domestic product) data, that continues to defy fears of a near-term slowdown, so it is kind of that combination that is propelling stocks to all-time highs,” he added.

Earlier April 30, the US Commerce Department estimated that the world’s biggest economy grew by an annual rate of 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.

A key factor was a surge in artificial intelligence investments, while consumer spending cooled.

But that did not dampen enthusiasm on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 up 10 per cent for the month and the Nasdaq rising 15 per cent.

The path ahead could be choppier, however, with energy prices surging on the back of war in the Middle East, warned Mr Kourkafas.

Among individual companies, shares in Meta plunged 8.6 per cent while Google-parent Alphabet added 10 per cent.

The tech rivals had earlier reported quarterly earnings, with starkly different investor reactions for their costly bets on artificial intelligence.