S&P 500 rides energy stocks higher to stay on track for monthly gain

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 gained Friday, remaining on course to close April in the green as energy stocks racked up gains following better-than-expected quarterly results from big oil.

The S&P 500 gained 0.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%, or 219 points, and the Nasdaq added 0.4%.

Energy stocks jumped more than 1% as investors cheered better-than-expected quarterly results from the oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX).

Financials, meanwhile, remained in the green despite a 40% slump in First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) after CNBC reported that regulators are looking to send the battered mid-size American lender into receivership to pave the way for a sale to another bank.

A rally in Comerica Inc (NYSE:CMA), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) helped pushed the broader regional banking sector up nearly 2%.

Materials were also involved in the heavy lifting for the broader market, led by a more than 5% surge in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) after the company reported first-quarter results that topped analyst estimates.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), meanwhile, delivered quarterly results that beat on both the top and bottom lines, but the e-commerce giant also flagged slowing growth in cloud, sending its shares more than 4% lower.

“Amazon disclosed that the Q1 AWS 16% YoY revenue growth rate decelerated by 500bps in the month of April as the company continues to meet customer needs with respect to cloud computing optimizations,” Goldman Sachs said in a note.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) was also trading deep in the red, down 18%, after the social media company reported first-quarter revenue that fell short of Wall Street amid a drop in advertising income.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) jumped more than 4% after reporting better-than-feared results, underpinned by performance in its data center business.

Looking to the second half of the year, Deutsche Bank said it remains confident that Intel “should see tailwinds from cyclically & seasonally improving demand…higher gross margin and generate incremental free cash flow."