As major U.S. corporations posted results that beat market expectations, the main New York stock indexes continued their record high streak on the 30th.
On the 30th (local time) in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 49,652.14, up 790.33 points (1.62%) from the prior transaction day. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose 73.06 points (1.02%) to 7,209.01, and the Nasdaq composite closed at 24,892.31, up 219.07 points (0.89%), respectively.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit a record high on a closing basis. For April, the S&P 500 rose 10%, and the Nasdaq gained 15%.
Gains were led by strong results from AI-related corporations and big tech corporations. Construction equipment company Caterpillar released strong results on the back of expanding AI data center construction, sending its shares up 10%. Alphabet, which released results after the previous day's close, also rose more than 10% on the day. Amazon gained 0.77% as revenue at Amazon Web Services (AWS) grew rapidly.
By contrast, Meta and Microsoft, which released results the prior day, closed lower after announcing AI investment plans larger than expected.
Economic indicators also lifted stocks. U.S. initial jobless claims for the past week were tallied at 189,000, the lowest since 1969. That suggests the labor market is holding relatively firm.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said the advance growth rate of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of this year was tallied at 2.0%.
Global oil prices, which had hit a record high, moved lower. Brent crude futures fell 3% from the previous day to $114 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures also weakened a little over 1%.