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As of Apr 30, 2026
For informational purposes only.
Today · Apr 30
Today · Apr 30
Today probably felt a bit backwards: inflation is running hot, oil is expensive, the Fed is on edge — and yet stocks mostly rallied, just not in the way of the last few years.
A big batch of data this morning said the US economy is still humming:
Put simply: growth is decent, people have jobs and are spending, and while inflation is uncomfortable, it wasn’t worse than markets had braced for. That was enough to tilt the day toward “risk-on.”
The S&P 500 rose about 1%, the Nasdaq nearly 0.9%, and small caps surged more than 2%. The volatility index (VIX) dropped about 10%, signaling less near‑term fear, even though it swung around intraday.
Under the surface, this was not a “tech saves the day” session.
Big tech just reported a wave of earnings. Alphabet (Google) soared around 10% on strong AI news, but Meta, Nvidia and Microsoft were hit hard as investors digested enormous AI spending plans and rich valuations. There’s open talk in trading desks about “mania” in chip stocks and worries that some bets will be hard to unwind.