Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on April 30, 2026.
NYSE
U.S. stock futures rose on Friday morning after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to new intraday and closing highs to round out trading for the month of April.
S&P 500 futures advanced 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures inched up 0.12%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 61 points, or about 0.12%.
Shares of Apple climbed more than 2% in Thursday’s extended trading hours. The consumer tech giant posted a fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue beat, but iPhone revenue fell short of estimates for the second time in three quarters.
The blue-chip Dow rose 790.33 points, or 1.62%, during Thursday’s regular session. The broad-based S&P 500 popped 1.02%, closing above the 7,200 threshold for the first time ever, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.89%. Both indexes notched new record closing highs and their strongest monthly performances since 2020, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq respectively adding 10.4% and 15.3% on the month. The Dow rose 7.1% in April, marking its strongest monthly performance since November 2024.
A strong first-quarter earnings season, as well as hopes for easing tensions in the Middle East, have ultimately boosted stocks higher on the year. Even though the major averages took a dip on the commencement of the U.S. war with Iran, all three indexes are now trading well above where they began 2026.
Venu Krishna, head of U.S. equity strategy at Barclays, pointed to a strong economic growth outlook and an intact tech story as catalysts to keep this strong market rally going from here.
“The story is good, so we remain optimistic. The last thing I would say is that the pace of this recovery has been so strong in such a short period of time, it does leave some potential for a little bit of a breather in the short term,” he said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Thursday afternoon. “But…I think the trajectory, the direction, is pretty strong.”
Chevron, Exxon Mobil, AutoNation, Colgate-Palmolive, Estee Lauder, Lazard, Moderna and CBOE Global Markets are some of the stocks reporting earnings before Friday’s opening bell. Traders will also look for the release of manufacturing data from April.
Australian and Japan markets mostly rise, most Asian markets closed for May Day
Australian and Japanese markets were mostly higher on Friday, even as most Asian markets were closed for the May Day holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was marginally up to start the day, but the Topix was 0.62% down.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.98%, on pace to snap an eight-session losing streak.
Oil prices climbed Friday, a day after a volatile session that saw the Brent crude contract for June hit a four-year high before retreating. The June contract, which expired on Thursday, climbed to $126.41 a barrel before settling at $114.01.
On Friday, the July Brent futures contract rose 1.11% to $111.63 as of 10:15 p.m. ET, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for June gained 0.45% to $105.54.
— Lim Hui Jie
Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: Apple, Roblox and more
These are the stocks moving the most in extended-hours trading:
- Apple — Shares rose nearly 3%. For the fiscal second quarter, Apple’s earnings came in at $2.01 per share, while revenue landed at $111.18 billion.
- Roblox — Shares of the online gaming platform tanked 21%. Roblox slashed its guidance for full-year bookings, calling for a range of $7.33 billion to $7.60 billion.
- Reddit — The social media platform operator jumped about 12%. Daily active users in the first quarter narrowly beat estimates, coming in at 126.8 million versus the StreetAccount consensus forecast for 125.9 million.
Read the full list of stocks moving here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Information technology is the only sector to end Thursday lower
Information technology stocks fell 0.63% on Thursday, making the sector the only one of the 11 GICS sectors to end Thursday’s trading session lower.
But the sector rose 17.44% in April, making it the second-highest performing sector on the month. Communication services stocks took the lead, gaining 18.43% in April.
Energy stocks were the laggard for the month, shedding 3.51% in April. Health care was the only other sector to end the month lower than where it began, notching a 0.58% loss.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Stock futures open little changed
Stock futures opened little changed on Thursday evening.
Shortly after 6 p.m. ET, futures tied to all three major averages were trading just around the flatline.
— Lisa Kailai Han
