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Briefing.com Summary:

*MSFT and META are down after earnings, but their losses are being more than offset by gains in other heavyweight stocks. 

*Oil prices are down after spiking overnight.

*Economic data continues to point to solid economic activity despite high prices.

We pointed out yesterday how every quarter has at least one day when the newsflow is off the charts. The "at least" part is the key phrase there, because we now have back-to-back days when the newsflow has been off the charts, and we'd have to say that today tops yesterday.

• Earnings reports from Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Caterpillar (CAT), Eli Lilly (LLY), Mastercard (MA), Merck (MRK), Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and Qualcomm (QCOM)--and that is just scratching the surface.
• Policy decisions by the Bank of England (unchanged, as expected) and the ECB (unchanged, as expected) on the heels of yesterday's FOMC decision and announcement by Fed Chair Powell that he will stay on as Fed governor "for a period of time to be determined." 
• Four economic releases, all of which are key releases
• Reports that President Trump is going to be briefed today on military options for Iran
• A big swing in oil prices. WTI crude futures topped $110.00/bbl overnight but have backed down to $104.74/bbl.

With it all in mind, the equity futures market is tilted higher ahead of the open.

Currently, the S&P 500 futures are up 39 points and are trading 0.6% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 202 points and are trading 0.8% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 305 points and are trading 0.6% above fair value.

It is a notable title considering MSFT is down 1.2% and META is down 8.6%, yet their losses have been overridden by a 7% gain in GOOG, a 6% gain in CAT, a 6% gain in LLY, a 3% gain in AMZN, and a 10% gain in QCOM.

Net-net, the earnings results have been supportive, and understandably so given that there has been a large number of very large beats. Alphabet, for instance, beat by $2.48, while Eli Lilly beat by $1.58, and Amazon beat by $1.15.

With the latest batch of earnings results, the Q1 blended growth estimate moved from 15% yesterday to 26% today, according to FactSet. That is just massive, and it is the trajectory that has had the stock market looking confident in the face of the Middle East tumult and rising oil prices.

This morning's economic data was another confidence booster in the notion that economic activity has remained resilient despite higher prices.

• The Advance Q1 GDP report showed real GDP increasing at an annual rate of 2.0% (Briefing.com consensus: 2.1%) versus 0.5% in the fourth quarter. The GDP Chain Deflator was up 3.6% (Briefing.com consensus: 3.3%) following a 3.7% increase in the fourth quarter.
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the growth was driven by gross private domestic investment, which contributed 1.48 percentage points, and personal consumption expenditures, which contributed 1.08 percentage points to the GDP increase. Not to be overlooked, though, is that the PCE price index was up 4.5%, while the core PCE price index was up 4.3%.
• The Q1 Employment Cost Index increased 0.9% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.8%) on the heels of a 0.7% increase in Q4, with wages and salaries up 0.8% and benefit costs up 1.2%.
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the increase in wages and salaries for civilian workers over the last 12 months (3.4%) is barely running ahead of inflation.
• Initial jobless claims for the week ending April 25 decreased by 26,000 to 189,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 217,000). Continuing jobless claims for the week ending April 18 decreased by 23,000 to 1.785 million.
  • The key takeaway from the report is the strikingly low number of initial claims. That just isn't consistent with a labor market that is falling apart—far (very far) from it.
• Personal income for March increased 0.6% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus: 0.4%) following an upwardly revised unchanged reading (from -0.1%) for February. Personal spending jumped 0.9% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus: 0.4%) following an upwardly revised 0.6% increase (from 0.5%) in February. The PCE Price Index increased 0.7% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus: 0.6%), leaving it up 3.5% yr/yr versus 2.8% in February. The core PCE Price Index rose 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%), leaving it up 3.2% yr/yr versus 3.0% in February.
  • The key takeaway from the report is that spending has remained solid in the face of stubbornly high inflation—a dynamic that is going to leave the Fed disinclined to cut rates.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com