Morgans AM: Friday, 28 April 2023

Strong first quarter earnings from technology majors fuelled the best rally for US equity markets since January - Dow gained +524-points or +1.57%, The broader S&P500 rallied +1.96% to log its best single session gain since 6 January, with Communications Services (up +5.53%) the clear outperformer and underpinned by Meta Platforms Inc soaring +13.93% after Facebook’s parent company reported better-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.20 for the first quarter after the close of the previous session and provided a revenue forecast that suggested reinvigorated sales growth. Consumer Discretionary (+2.77%), Real Estate (+2.43%) and Information Technology (+2.17%) all gained over >2% amid a broad-based rally that saw all eleven primary sectors advance. The Nasdaq jumped +2.43%, with Microsoft Corp up +3.20% and Alphabet Inc +3.75%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 gained +1.20%.