Benzinga·2025-05-02 08:56Market Sentiment - The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed improvement, moving to the "Neutral" zone with a reading of 46.9, up from 42.7 [6] - U.S. stocks experienced gains, with the S&P 500 recording its longest winning streak since November 2023, achieving gains for eight consecutive days [1] Company Performance - Microsoft Corp. shares surged by 7.6% after reporting a strong quarter that exceeded expectations, highlighting its leadership in cloud and AI [2] - Meta Platforms Inc. saw its shares increase by 4.2% after surpassing earnings estimates [2] - The Dow Jones closed higher by approximately 84 points to 40,752.96, while the S&P 500 gained 0.63% to 5,604.14, and the Nasdaq Composite rose by 1.52% to 17,710.74 during Thursday's session [5] Economic Data - U.S. construction spending decreased by 0.5% month-over-month, reaching an annual rate of $2,196.1 billion in March [4] - The ISM manufacturing PMI fell to 48.7 in April, down from 49.0 in March, but above market estimates of 48 [4] - Initial jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 241,000 for the week ending April 26, compared to market estimates of 224,000 [4] Sector Performance - Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed positively, with information technology, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks showing the largest gains [5] - Conversely, health care and consumer staples sectors closed lower, diverging from the overall market trend [5] Upcoming Earnings - Investors are anticipating earnings results from Chevron Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Eaton Corporation [6]