The Dow Jones New York Stock Index ended higher Thursday (Feb. 1), as the market rebounded after Wednesday's sharp decline. Investors are keeping an eye on earnings from major listed companies including Apple and MetaPlatforms. Investors are also watching the release of US non-farm payrolls data today. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) signaled that it would not cut interest rates in March at its latest meeting to assess interest rate direction.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 369.54 points, or +0.97%, to close at 38,519.84.
- The S&P500 index rose 60.54 points, or +1.25%, to close at 4,906.19.
- The Nasdaq index rose 197.63 points, or +1.30%, to close at 15,361.64.
Torsten Schlag, an analyst at Apollo Global Management, commented: Investors bought stocks after absorbing the results of the latest Fed meeting. That helped the Dow Jones index close again at a record high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq index rose more than 1%.
Ten of the 11 stocks in the S&P 500 closed in positive territory, with the luxury goods index gaining 1.98% and the consumer goods index gaining 1.97%.
U.S. pharmaceutical major Merck & Co. reported fourth-quarter 2023 revenue of $14.63 billion. Shares rose 4.6%. That was above analysts' expectations of $14.50 billion. It was driven by sales of the cancer treatment Keytruda. This includes sales of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil.
The KBW Regional Bank Index fell 2.3%, pressured by shares of New York Community Bancorp, which plunged 11% after the bank reported its fourth-quarter loss in 2023/2023 and announced a cut in dividend payments. As a result, markets are beginning to worry about the financial stability of US regional banks.
Investors track the performance of large technology companies. Meta Platforms, Apple Inc. And Amazon will release earnings after the market closes. Meanwhile, shares of Meta, Apple and Amazon rose 1.2%, 1.3% and 2.6% respectively.
According to LSEG, 208 companies in the S&P 500 index have now reported earnings. Of these, 80% reported higher-than-expected operating results.
For economic data released last night. The U.S. Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims rose by 9,000 last week to 224,000. and exceeded analysts' estimates of 213,000.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its manufacturing index rose to 49.1 in January from 47.1 in December and beat analysts' expectations of 47.2. The index is below 50, indicating that the US manufacturing sector is contracting. And this is the 15th consecutive monthly contraction.
Investors are keeping an eye on today's release of US nonfarm payrolls numbers. Analysts had predicted that employment would increase by 173,000 in January. That's down from 216,000 jobs in December. And the unemployment rate is expected to increase to 3.8% in January from 3.7% in December.
By InfoQuest News Agency (02 Feb 2024)
Tags: Dow Jones, Dow Jones, Stock Market, New York Stock Exchange