Investors will see whether a stock market near all-time highs can sustain its advance, with reports from five of the “Magnificent Seven” companies coming in the final week of April, in addition to what could be Jerome Powell ‘s final Federal Reserve meeting. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed once more at all-time highs on Wednesday, the latest milestone in a massive rally this month that has taken many traders aback given the danger of an ongoing war in the Middle East, and evolving fears around AI disruption. The S & P 500 is higher by more than 8% in April, while the Nasdaq has surged more than 13%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained more than 6% month to date. “There’s been a crazy disconnect between the headlines in the war and what’s going on in the market,” said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. “What can help that floor settle out are the big cap tech names — it’s technologies, those ‘Magnificent’ names that rebounded — that really got this market going.” .SPX 1M mountain S & P 500, 1-month The “Magnificent Seven” names reporting next week have a high bar to clear, given that they will have to show revenue growth to justify their lofty AI spending. They’ve also run up big ahead of their prints: Alphabet , Amazon , Meta Platforms and Microsoft , all reporting Wednesday, have each rallied more than 10% this month. Apple, releasing results Thursday, has jumped more than 6%. Microsoft could be the name to watch, given that strong results from the biggest name in software could revive confidence not just in the company but the group, according to Woods. On Thursday, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) pulled back after lackluster results from ServiceNow and IBM reignited fears that many software companies are about to get chucked into the wastebin of the AI revolution. Woods is watching for a breakout from Microsoft above its 200-day moving average. Many of the megacaps have already been making headlines in recent days. Apple’s earnings are coming just after news that Tim Cook will be replaced by John Ternus as CEO. The longtime hardware executive will have to take charge of the iPhone maker’s AI strategy. Meta Platforms’ report follows news that it’s laying off 10% of its workforce , or about 8,000 employees. Amazon, up 26% this month, will be watched for growth in its cloud platform Amazon Web Services (AWS). Alphabet’s cloud and Gemini growth also will be studied carefully. The Federal Reserve meeting concluding Wednesday will also be consequential, given that it will likely be Powell’s last before Kevin Warsh takes over as chair in May. It follows the Department of Justice on Friday dropping its criminal probe of Trump , which could clear the way for the transition. Warsh would take the chairmanship at a complicated time, given that a spike in gas prices could keep the central bank from lowering interest rates — a move that Trump has been adamant on. Fed funds futures were last showing that the central bank will remain on hold this year, according to the CME FedWatch Tool . There is the slimmest possibility — less than a percentage point — that the Fed will hike. All this comes as investors head into a troubled time for markets. Seasonally speaking, the next month is tied to the old stock market adage, “Sell in May and go away,” as it is historically kicks off the worst six months of the stock market, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac. It’s a reminder that the risks in the market are still asymmetric to the downside, according to the Alex Shahidi, co-CIO at Evoke, a division of MAI Capital Management. It’s a point the market was swift to remind traders of this week, when the major averages closed lower Thursday because of sharp declines in software and higher oil prices — a reminder that bad news out of the Strait of Hormuz could assert themselves at any point. “This is an opportunity where, if you’re heavily concentrated in one market segment, and you’ve had a bounce since the lows, this may be a good opportunity to reposition, to have that more diversified allocation,” Shahidi said. “It just seems like there’s just more downside risk than upside potential in terms of where the surprises come from,” he added. Week ahead calendar All times ET. Monday, April 27 Earnings: Nucor , Ventas , Universal Health Services , Public Storage , Cincinnati Financial , AvalonBay Communities , Verizon Communications , Domino’s Pizza Tuesday, April 28 8:15 a.m. ADP Weekly Employment change (04/11) 9:00 a.m. FHFA Home Price Index (February) 10:00 a.m. Consumer Confidence (April) Earnings: T-Mobile US , PPG Industries , Mondelez International , Robinhood Markets , Booking Holdings , Waste Management , Welltower , Visa , Starbucks , Ingersoll Rand , FirstEnergy , Extra Space Storage , The Sherwin-Williams Company , Invesco , The Coca-Cola Company , Zimmer Biomet , Kimberly-Clark , General Motors , United Parcel Service , Hilton Worldwide Holdings , Centene , Sysco , Ecolab Wednesday, April 29 8:30 a.m. Durable Orders preliminary (March) 8:30 a.m. Housing Starts (March) 8:30 a.m. Wholesale Inventories preliminary (March) 2:00 p.m. FOMC Meeting 2:00 p.m. Fed Funds Target Upper Bound Earnings: O’Reilly Automotive , Invitation Homes , The Allstate Corp. , Chipotle Mexican Grill , Ford Motor Co. , eBay , Carvana , C.H. Robinson Worldwide , Aflac , Amazon , Align Technology , Tyler Technologies , Qualcomm , Microsoft , MGM Resorts International , Meta Platforms , Alphabet , Yum! Brands , Old Dominion Freight Line , General Dynamics , Regeneron Pharmaceuticals , GE Healthcare Technologies , Humana , Bunge Global SA , Verisk Analytics , Vulcan Materials , Stanley Black & Decker , Phillips 66 , Lennox International , Generac Holdings , Cognizant Technology Solutions , Biogen , Automatic Data Processing , AbbVie Thursday, April 30 8:30 a.m. ECI Civilian Workers (Q1) 8:30 a.m. GDP Chain Price first preliminary (Q1) 8:30 a.m. GDP first preliminary (Q1) 8:30 a.m. Initial Claims (04/25) 8:30 a.m. Core PCE Deflator (March) 8:30 a.m. Personal Consumption Expenditure (March) 8:30 a.m. Personal Income (March) 9:45 a.m. Chicago PMI (April) 10:00 a.m. Leading Indicators (February) Earnings: Apple , The Clorox Co. , Western Digital , Weyerhaeuser , Sandisk , Monolithic Power Systems , GoDaddy , First Solar , DexCom , Amgen , Illinois Tool Works , The Southern Co. , Parker-Hannifin , Intercontinental Exchange , Fortive , T. Rowe Price Group , Altria Group , International Paper , DTE Energy , ConocoPhillips , Bristol-Myers Squibb , Quanta Services , L3Harris Technologies , Labcorp Holdings , Eli Lilly & Co. , Iron Mountain , Valero Energy , Molson Coors Beverage , Merck & Co. , Cigna Group , Caterpillar , Air Products & Chemicals , Royal Caribbean Group , Martin Marietta Materials , Mastercard , Hubbell , The Hershey Co. , Cardinal Health Friday, May 1 9:45 a.m. S & P Global PMI Manufacturing final (April) 10:00 a.m. ISM Manufacturing (April) Earnings: Dominion Energy , Colgate-Palmolive , Exxon Mobil , Chevron , Ares Management , Moderna , The Estee Lauder Companies
‘Mag 7’ earnings, Fed meeting will test a stock market near all-time highs. Here’s what’s ahead
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