The US economy continued its strength into the first quarter of 2018, especially in April. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, US GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.3%, well-surpassing first-quarter 2017’s GDP of 1.4%. The increase in GDP was primarily due to the increased levels of nonresidential fixed investments, personal consumption expenditures and federal government spending.

US markets showed signs of recovery as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite all seemed to prevent further downslide for the month. The Dow finished at 24,163.15 points, up 0.2%, while the S&P 500 managed to climb 0.3% to close at 2,648.05. The NASDAQ Composite remained flat, up four-tenths a percentage to end at 7,066.27 for the month.

Laboratory Instruments and Products Stock Index

IBO’s Laboratory Instruments and Products Index increased 1.4% in April, finishing the month at 355.08. The majority of the Index finished in positive territory with NanoString Technologies shares advancing the fastest, up 26.5% to close at $9.50. Pacific Biosciences also grew notably, increasing 25.9% to finish the month at $2.58. Conversely, Waters decreased the most, falling 5.2% to $188.41.

For the month, Illumina shares grew 1.9% to $240.93. On April 24, the company reported its quarterly results, for which adjusted EPS was $1.45. This represents a significant growth of 126.6% from the previous year. The following day, both Barclays Investment Group and Morgan Stanley increased the stock’s price target. Barclays gave the stock a price target of $235.00, a 9% increase from the previous price target of $215.00. Morgan Stanley upped the expected share price from $170.00 to $180.00.

 Thermo Fisher reported its first quarter earnings on April 25. The company recorded an adjusted EPS of $2.50, an increase of 20.2%. Adjusted EPS also beat analysts’ expectations of $2.42, signifying a $0.08 surprise. On April 25, Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock’s target price, boosting prices from $216.00 to $230.00. For the month, Thermo Fisher shares grew modestly, up 1.9% to close at $210.35.

On April 24, Waters reported its first quarter results, delivering an adjusted EPS of $1.59, representing an 8.9% increase. Despite so, on April 25, Barclays Investment Group lowered its price target for the stock, dropping the share price from $208.00 to $200.00.

Diversified Laboratory Stock Index

Diversified Laboratory shares in IBO’s Stock Index continued to slide as most of the companies ended the month in red. The only exceptions were Danaher and Honeywell, for which the former increased 2.5% to $100.32, while the latter rose slightly, up just 0.1% to finish the month at $144.68.

Danaher reported its first quarter 2018 earnings on April 19, as adjusted EPS advanced 16.5% to $0.99, surpassing analysts’ expectations. The next day, on April 20, Jefferies Group gave the stock a “buy” rating, as well as a target price of $117.00.

On April 24, Corning reported first quarter adjusted EPS of $0.31. Share price for Corning fell 8.1% to $69.80 in April, following a 20.5% drop in adjusted EPS. Adjusted EPS, however, beat analysts’ expectation of $0.30. On the same day, Guggenheim Securities gave Corning shares a target price of $35.00.

Honeywell reported its first-quarter results on April 20, delivering an adjusted EPS of $1.95. Adjusted EPS increased 17.5% and also beat analysts’ expectations of $1.89. On April 23, Barclays Investment Group raised the stock’s price target from $170.00 to $172.00.

On April 26, Illinois Tool Works reported a first-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.90, a 23.4% increase. On April 10, Goldman Sachs upgraded its “buy” rating to a “firm-buy” rating, meanwhile, lowering the price target from $191.00 to $177.00. Also on April 10, JPMorgan Chase lowered its previous price target of $168.00 to a new price target of $155.00. For the month, Illinois Tool Works’ share price slid 9.3% to $142.02.

Roper Technologies share price fell 5.9% in the month to close at $264.19. The company reported its first-quarter earnings on April 27, for which adjusted EPS amounted to $2.61, an increase of 23.7%. On April 24, JPMorgan Chase boosted the stock’s price target from $303.00 to $305.00.

International Stocks

In the Asia Pacific region, indexes followed by IBO managed to bounce back and recover from a two-month slide as most finished in positive territory. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Singapore’s STI both increased 6.8%. The Nikkei 225 finished the month at 22,467.87 points, while the STI closed at 3,613.93 points. Also growing notably is India’s Sensex 30, up 6.6% to 35,160.36 points. Conversely, Thailand’s SET fell the most, dropping 14.2% to 1,532.23. China’s Shanghai Composite also slowed down, sliding 1.3% to close at 3,082.23.

Asia Pacific shares in the IBO stock table delivered a split of gains and losses. The top gainer for the region was Techcomp, for which share price flew 76.0% to close at HKD 4.10 ($0.52 at HKD 7.8 = $1). The increase in share price was primarily due to an announcement on April 25 regarding the purchasing of Techcomp shares (see Techcomp Enters into Sales Agreement). Conversely, Precision System Science shares dropped the most, decreasing 11.1% to ¥585 ($5.3 at¥109 = $1).

European indexes followed by IBO were all up for the month. The region’s fastest growth belonged to France’s CAC, which advanced 7.6% to 5,520.50. Italy’s FTSE MIB also grew significantly, up 7.4% to 23,979.37. The FTSE MIB index also rose at a significant rate year-to-date, increasing 9.7%. The region’s slowest grower, however, was Switzerland’s SMI, up 1.5% to close the month at 8,886.26.

European shares in the IBO stock table finished the month mostly green, with the few exceptions of Abcam, Horizon Discovery and Spectris. The former fell 1.5% to £12.21 ($16.62 at £0.73 = $1), while Horizon Discovery shares decreased 4.0% to £1.44 ($1.96). Spectris shares, however, fell the least amongst the group, sliding just 0.1% to £26.90 ($36.6).

Conversely, shares that grew the most within the European region belonged to Biotage, Scientific Digital Imaging and Oxford Instruments. Biotage shares advanced 26.1% to SEK 90.00 ($10.17 at SEK 8.9 = $1) and is up 7.1% for the year. Increasing 23.7% for the month are Scientific Digital Imaging shares, which are also up significantly for the year, increasing 64.4%. Shares of the company closed at £0.41 for the month. Oxford Instruments’ share price reached £9.06 ($12.33), an increase of 22.3%.