Last trading day of April and the S&P is up 2.2% for the month and the NASDAQ is up 2.7%. The international index is up 4.7% in April. (Yahoo Finance)
March personal income rose 0.0% and consumer spending was up 0.4%. Both were a little lighter than expectations. (CNBC)
Exxon Mobil announced first quarter profits of $4.9 billion, compared with $9.1 billion last year. During the quarter, ExxonMobil produced 4.2 million barrels per day; an increase of 97,000 barrels per day over the first quarter of 2014.The oil giant also increased its dividend by 6% to 73 cents a share. Exxon's stock has dropped 13% in the past 12 months. (Business Wire)
Oil company Royal Dutch Shell reported better-than-expected profits, though sales were hammered by the drop in global energy prices. First-quarter profits rose 7%, thanks to a good performance in the refining division. Revenue plunged to $65.71 billion from $109.67 billion a year earlier. (AP)
Wal-Mart (WMT) plans to open 115 new stores in China by 2017-expanding its store count there by more than 30%. But the retailer will also close some under-performing locations in China. (Reuters)