The S&P 500 rose to a five-month high on Thursday as better-than-expected Meta results improved sentiment around technology stocks, sending the market lower last year.
The broader market index jumped 0.8%, or its best level since August. Meanwhile, the heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.4% to its highest level since September. The gains come ahead of a trio of results from Big Tech after the bell at Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed, dropping 218 points, or about 0.6%. The main indicator has been moved down merck stocks after the drugmaker issued a weak outlook on its most recent earnings results, despite beating estimates in earnings.
Some of the momentum came from today’s gains as bond yields traded lower. The S&P 500 rose 1.85% at one point. The January jobs report looms on Friday.
meta increased by more than 24% Best day since 2013 After reporting a The fourth quarter outperformed revenue And the announcement of a $40 billion to buy back shares. This helped investors look to the past losses In the business unit that oversees Metaverse.
Other big tech stocks rose on the back of the results. Google parent posts the alphabet were higher than 5%, while Amazon It jumped more than 6%. an Apple It gained more than 2%.
Technology stocks have outperformed in 2023, buoyed by recent signs of slowing inflation that investors expect could cause the Federal Reserve to pause its aggressive campaign to raise interest rates. The S&P 500 Information Technology Index is up more than 13% this year after falling more than 28% last year.
“It shows that growth is outperforming value as it relieves some of the pressures that hawkish rhetoric has brought to risk markets over the course of 2022,” said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Global Investments.
Wall Street came away with a winning session after the Fed announced on Wednesday Raise the interest rate by 0.25 percentage point. While the central bank gave no indication of an upcoming halt in rate hikes, investors were encouraged by the smaller increase and comments from Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledging easing inflation.
Economists, on average, expect Friday’s data to show 187,000 jobs added in January, according to Dow Jones estimates. anyway, Thursday afternoon Goldman Sachs economists said salaries could reach 300,000, a large number that could mean the Fed should go further to cool the economy and curb inflation.
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