The S&P 500 rose to a five-month high on Thursday as better-than-expected Meta results boosted sentiment around technology shares, which led the market lower. last year.
The broader index jumped 0.8%, its best level since August. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.4% to its highest level since September. The gains were ahead of a trio of Big Tech after-the-bell results in Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed, falling 218 points, or 0.6%. The main index was dragged lower Merck after the pharmaceutical company issued a weak outlook for its latest products, despite estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Some investors took a profit today as the fund traded lower. The S&P 500 was up 1.85% at the same time. The January jobs report is due out on Friday.
Meta It surged more than 24% in its best day since 2013 after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings beat and announcing a $40 billion stock buyback. This has helped investors to look past losses in the group of companies that monitor the metaverse.
Other mega-cap tech stocks rose on the back of those results. Google-parent section alphabet is up more than 5%, if Amazon jumped more than 6%. apple the share gained more than 2%.
Tech stocks outperformed in 2023, supported by recent signs of rising inflation that investors hope could lead to a break from the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hike campaign . The S&P 500 information technology sector is up more than 13% this year after falling 28% last year.
“This shows that growth is more than worth it as it takes some of the pressure off the hawkish rhetoric on risk markets through 2022,” said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments.
Wall Street came out of the session victorious after the Fed announced on Wednesday that it would raise interest rates by 0.25 percent. Although the central bank did not say anything about an upcoming pause in inflation, investors were encouraged by a smaller increase and comments by Chairman Jerome Powell that he accepted the rate cut. .
Economists, on average, expect Friday’s data to show 187,000 jobs were added in January, according to Dow Jones estimates. However, on Thursday afternoon, Goldman economists said that wages could be as high as 300,000, a big number that could mean the Fed should do more to cool the economy and curb inflation.
