U.S. Stock Market: Record Highs for Nasdaq, S&P 500 Today

For April 24, 2015, here's how the U.S. stock market did today, earnings reports, the top stock market news, and stocks to watch based on today's market moves...

US stock market

How Did the Stock Market Do Today?

Dow: 18,080.14, +21.45, +0.12%
S&P 500: 2,117.69, +4.76, +0.23%
Nasdaq: 5,092.08, +36.02, +0.71%

The Nasdaq Composite Index struck another closing high Friday, fueled by strong earnings reports from Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT). The S&P 500 also hit a new record close today. The DJIA Index gained 21 points.

Top Stock Market News Today

  • Stock Market Recap: Tech stocks pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq into record territories, although the DJIA only saw modest gains. Blue chips were unable to offset the losses of oil giants Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and financial stocks.
  • Looking Abroad: Investors in Europe were pleased by news that German business sentiment rose again in April to its highest levels since last June. The Ifo Business Climate Index rose to hit 108.6 in April from 107.9 in March. The index beat Wall Street expectations by 0.2 points, a sign of continued confidence in Europe's largest economy.

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Stocks to Watch: AAPL, MSFT, MYL, TWTR

  • Stocks to Watch No. 1, AAPL: Shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) jumped above $130 as investors look forward to the tech giant's April 27 earnings report. The iPhone 6 may be the lone outperformer in the Q2 AAPL earnings, but that's all Apple needs to beat expectations. For a breakdown of what to expect from AAPL's earnings report next week, check out our full analysis here.
  • Stocks to Watch No. 2, CMCSA: It's a tale of two diverging deals in the markets today. Comcast Corp.(Nasdaq: CMCSA) formally dropped its $45.2 billion takeover bid of cable giant Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC). Regulators at the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission had both argued the deal could negatively affect American consumers. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that AT&T Inc.'s (NYSE: T) $49 billion bid for DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) is moving forward and has caused fewer concerns for agencies overseeing the deal approval process.
  • Stocks to Watch No. 3, MSFT: Shares of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) jumped 10.45% this afternoon on a quarterly earnings and revenue beat. The company announced that revenue from the Surface 3 surged more than 44%, and cloud-service revenue jumped more than 100%.
  • Stocks to Watch No. 4, MYL: Shares of Mylan (Nasdaq: MYL) were up more than 3% on news that it has increased its bid to nearly $33 billion for Perrigo Co. (Nasdaq: PRGO). The target company recently rejected a $29 billion bid from Mylan. Meanwhile, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE ADR: TEVA) has offered $43 billion for Mylan.
  • Stocks to Watch No. 5, TWTR: In addition to Apple, investors should keep an eye on movement in Twitter stock. Shares of Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) slid 1.15% today on news that there has been a significant amount of insider selling of the stock.

What Investors Must Know This Week

About the Author

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.

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