U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 200 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.57% to 38,303.11 while the NASDAQ rose 2.01% to 15,925.77. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.14% to 5,106.22.

Check This Out: Top 4 Materials Stocks That May Explode In Q2

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 4.3% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy shares dipped by 0.8%.

Top Headline

Microsoft Corp MSFT shares rose more than 2% on Friday after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and sales results for its third quarter.

The company’s revenue increased 17% year-over-year to $61.9 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $60.804 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. The tech giant reported quarterly earnings of $2.94 per share, which beat analyst estimates of $2.82 per share.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Biodexa Pharmaceuticals Plc BDRX shares shot up 78% to $1.2783 after the company entered an exclusive license agreement with Rapamycin Holdings for the rights to eRapa.
• Shares of Snap Inc. SNAP got a boost, surging 26% to $14.41 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter revenue guidance above estimates. Also, the company reported a year-over-year increase in quarterly daily active users.
• Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. ULH shares were also up, gaining 37% to $44.99 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited ICLK shares dropped 53% to $1.20 after the company announced the termination of its merger agreement.
• Shares of Nuwellis, Inc. NUWE were down 41% to $0.17 after the company reported pricing of $2.7 million public offering.
• Saia, Inc. SAIA was down, falling 20% to $433.74 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

Also Check This Out: How To Earn $500 A Month From Domino’s Pizza Stock Ahead Of Q1 Earnings

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.2% to $83.71 while gold traded up 0.4% at $2,352.70.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $27.37 on Friday, while copper rose 0.8% to $4.5740.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.11%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.75% while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 1.56% The German DAX rose 1.36% French CAC 40 rose 0.89% while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.91%.

Bank lending to households in the Eurozone rose by 0.2% year-over-year to €6.875 trillion in March. Spain’s retail trade increased by 0.6% year-over-year in March versus a revised 1.8% gain in the earlier month, while unemployment rate increased to 12.29% in the first quarter.

The consumer confidence indicator in France declined to 90 in April versus a reading of 91 in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.81%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumping 2.12%, China's Shanghai Composite climbing 1.17% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.82%.

The Bank of Japan maintained its key short-term interest rate unchanged at its April meeting. Singapore’s manufacturing production declined 9.2% year-over-year in March versus a revised 4.4% increase in the prior month.

Economics

• The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation – the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index – rose more than expected in March. The headline PCE price index rose from 2.5% in February 2024 to 2.7% year-on-year in March, beating forecasts of a 2.6% increase, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.
• U.S. personal income increased by 0.5% from the prior month in March, while personal spending rose by 0.8%.
• The University of Michigan consumer sentiment was revised lower to 77.2 in April compared to a preliminary reading of 77.9, and versus 79.4 in March.
• The total number of active U.S. oil rigs fell by 5 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported

Now Read This: ‘I Don’t Want You To Lose Any Money’: Jim Cramer On This Industrial Stock: ‘Go Buy GE Vernova’