Opening Comment — Friday, May 01, 2026
DJIA: 49,652.14, up 790.33
S&P 500: 7,209.01, up 73.06
NASDAQ: 24,892.31, up 219.07
Stocks mixed ahead of PMI data
Stock futures are mixed Friday morning to start off the month ahead of today’s April manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), with S&P Global releasing their finalized reading. As of 7:18 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.3%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.1% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Thursday following the advance reading of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerating less than expected to an annualized 2.0%, while the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Deflator picked up more than-projected to a 4.3% pace. Personal income and personal spending rose 0.6% and 0.9% month-over-month, respectively, while initial jobless claims fell significantly more-than-expected to the lowest level since 1969. The Dow was up 1.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% and hit a new record closing level of 24892.31. The S&P 500 increased 1.0% and set a new record closing level of 7209.01, with 10 of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 4.0%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.6%.
On the data front, ISM’s manufacturing PMI and the prices paid component for April are expected to come in at 53.2 and 80.3, respectively, up from the prior month’s 52.7 and 78.3, respectively. S&P Global’s finalized April manufacturing PMI is projected to remain unchanged from the preliminary reading of 54.0.
Technical Analysis:
As of midday Thursday, the trend for the S&P 500 is higher. Resistance is hard to pinpoint, and support is at the 50-day and 200-day moving averages of 6,814 and 6,724, respectively.
Across the pond, most European markets are closed for the 1st of May Labor Day holiday. Nationwide’s measure of U.K. home prices unexpectedly rose in April, while the country’s March mortgage approvals and net change in consumer credit both came in above projections.
Overnight in Asia, many markets were closed for the holiday. Japan’s Tokyo’s Consumer Price Index accelerated less-than-forecasted in April to 1.5% year-over year, while the country’s consumer confidence fell more-than-expected in April. Australia’s first-quarter Producer Price Index showed quarter-over-quarter growth of 0.4%.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed to end out the week following a slew of central banks leaving their policy rates unchanged.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is little changed at $105.10/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.1% lower at $4,567.00/ounce.