Stock Market Rose Due To Better-Than-Expected Companies' Earnings (April 24, 2009)

Wall Street was opened higher after many companies posted their better-than-expected earnings result. The companies are Ford Motor Co., American Express, and Amazon.com. Another news is the government have conducted stress tests to 19 financial institutions and announced its result.

Ford reported its first-quarter loss of $1.4 billion. Their operating cash flow were down around $3.7 billion. This is far less than their fourth quarter operating cash flow (down around $7.2 billion).

American Express reported its first-quarter profit of around $361 million (31 cents per share). This result made the bank became the biggest percentage gain today.

Amazon reported its earnings per share of 41 cents. And its revenue grew 18% to $4.9 billion.

After conducted stress tests, the government said that most banks are currently well capitalized. But the banks need to hold a substantial amount of capital above regulatory requirements to survive if the recession becoming worse.

Beside that, the other economic datas are the 0.6 percent drop in March new-home sales, and the announcement that March durable-goods orders fell 0.8 percent.

Dow Jones closed at 8,075 (up 117,95), Nasdaq at 1,694 (up 42,08) and S&P 500 at 866.

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Posted in: Daily Recap,Good News