S&P 500 rides Apple rally, strong jobs data higher

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 racked up gains on Friday, driven by an Apple-led jump in tech and a better-than-expected monthly jobs report that eased worries about a deeper and darker recession. 

The S&P 500 was up 2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.8%, or 591 points lower, and the Nasdaq gained 2.4%.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose more than 3% after reporting fiscal second-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, underpinned by strong iPhone sales in emerging markets.

Overall this is remains a “golden installed base story” for Apple, Wedbush said, setting up for a ‘new ‘mini super cycle’ despite the murky macro heading into the anniversary iPhone 15 expected to launch in the September timeframe.”

Other big stocks including Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) were also in rally mode.

Regional banking stocks Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL), First Horizon National Corporation (NYSE:FHN), and PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) clawed back their losses from a day earlier, though some attributed the move to an oversold rally and suggest that it is too early to suggest the banking turmoil is over.

“This oversold rally we are currently seeing has alot of potential firepower behind it, but it is too early to confirm that we have seen the final lows to this banking crisis,” Jennery Montgomery Scott.

The economic front also helped lift sentiment on risk assets including stocks after the U.S. created more jobs than expected in April, stoking hopes the U.S. may be able to avoid a severe and long recession.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 235,000 in April, well above consensus expectations for 180,000 new jobs, though there were downside revisions to the prior March and February jobs reports.

The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell by 0.1% to 3.4%, while wages rose 0.5% for the month, topping estimates for 0.3%, pointing to the ongoing risk of a wage-led boost to inflation that will likely encourage the Fed to persist with higher for longer rates.

“On balance, the data suggest the soft landing we expect this year is achievable,” Morgan Stanley said in a note.

Elsewhere on the earnings front, LYFT Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) fell more than 20% as wider than expected loss and softer guidance stoked bearish bets on the stock.

This was the riding-hailing company’s maiden results since David Risher was appointed CEO, with some on Wall Street insisting Risher would need to implement more cost cuts and price hikes to improve margins.

“Lyft can eventually pass along more insurance costs and inch up pricing without losing share, we could see a path to significant margin improvement,” {{0UBS said in a note.

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), meanwhile, rose more than 16% after the cryptocurrency platform reported better-than-feared quarterly results, driven by cost cuts and subscriber strength.

Carvana Co (NYSE:CVNA) was also among the biggest gainers, up 23%, after the used car retailer said it was ahead of plans to reach positive adjusted profit during the second quarter.

But not everyone on Wall Street is cheering the results and continue to view the company as a show me story,

“Value for the equity is limited unless the company can continue to show a rapid improvement in profitability beyond 2Q23; as we believe this is unlikely, we continue to continue to rate CVNA underperform,” Wedbush said in a note.