Stocks finished April with a flourish and now head into a historically bearish period with some momentum. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all finished with daily and weekly wins, as earnings reports continue to dominate the headlines on Wall Street.

The blue-chip index and S&P 500 clocked sizable monthly wins-- the former's best since January -- while the Nasdaq finished May marginally in the red. On the way to weekly and monthly losses, Wall Street's "fear gauge," the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), logged its lowest close since November 2021. 

GOLD FALLS SHORT OF 2K YET AGAIN

Oil prices climbed today, with June-dated crude adding $2.02, or 2.7%, to close at $76.78 per barrel. For the week, black gold shed 1.4%, but the commodity did finish the month with a 1.5% rise. 

Gold prices made another run at $2,000 today, but ultimately fell short. The June-dated commodity added 10 cents, to settle at $1,999.10 an ounce. It gained 0.4% for the week and 0.7% in May.

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