Indexes post weekly gains

Alphabet gains following upbeat first-quarter results

Intel drops after weak forecast

(Updates to market close)

NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) – Wall Street advanced on Friday, notching weekly gains as investors parsed a spate of earnings and looked for signs of easing tensions in the U.S.-China trade dispute.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were bolstered by gains in the “magnificent seven” group of artificial intelligence-related megacaps, while the blue-chip Dow was more muted.

Beijing exempted some U.S. imports from its 125% tariffs but denied Trump’s negotiation claims, on the heels of recent de-escalatory statements from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in the latest sign that the world’s two largest economies are dialing back their trade war tensions, which have rattled markets for weeks.

“We’re looking at a nice finish to what was a pretty strong week,” said Greg Bassuk, CEO at AXS Investments in New York. “The week kicked off with a strong sell sentiment but a real robust rebound followed. It’s been a pretty strong week and it’s largely been sparked by a sense of de-escalation of both the trade war with China.”

First-quarter earnings season has hit full-stride, with 179 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 73% have beaten expectations, according to LSEG.

Analysts now see aggregate S&P 500 earnings for the January to March period of 9.7% year-on-year, sunnier than the 8.0% estimate as it stood on April 1, per LSEG.

But investors are largely looking past results and parsing forward guidance, particularly lowered or pulled projections due to economic uncertainties and dampening consumer spending.

The University of Michigan released its final take on April consumer sentiment, and while the index was upwardly revised, it was still at the lowest level since July 2022 and inflation expectations remained hot.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 39.54 points, or 0.74%, to end at 5,524.31 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 211.73 points, or 1.23%, to 17,377.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9.34 points, or 0.02%, to 40,104.82.

Alphabet shares advanced after the Google parent posted a 28% jump in Google Cloud revenue and assured investors that its AI investments are paying off.

Intel provided weak revenue and profit forecasts, sending the chipmaker’s stock lower on the day.

Shares of oilfield services provider SLB dipped after the company missed first-quarter profit estimates and warned of a potential industry-wide shift due to economic uncertainty and tariff risks.

Charter Communications jumped after the broadband and cable company beat revenue estimates and added more subscribers than expected.

(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis)