The S&P 500 rose Thursday as better-than-expected Meta results improved sentiment around technology stocks, which sent the market down last year.
The gains come ahead of a trio of results from Big Tech after the bell at Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.
The broader market index jumped 0.9%, while the Nasdaq Composite-heavy index rose nearly 2%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 20 points, or about 0.1%.
Meta rose more than 19% after 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. Shares of Google subsidiary Alphabet rose more than 4%, while Amazon jumped more than 3%. Apple shares rose more than 1%.
Tech stocks outperformed in 2023, buoyed by recent signs of calming inflation that investors expect may signal the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign to raise interest rates. The S&P 500 Information Technology Index is up more than 11% this year after falling more than 28% last year.
Shares traded higher on Wednesday After the Federal Reserve announced a Raise the interest rate by 0.25 percentage points. 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.
Traders await the latest jobs report on Friday which will give an insight into the labor market. Any signs of a slowdown could suggest to investors that further rate hikes are off the table.
Investors will be watching Thursday for earnings reports from household names incl an AppleAnd the alphabetAnd AmazonAnd Ford Motor And Starbucks.
