The S&P 500 and Nasdaq open higher Thursday as the Meta leads a rally in tech stocks
The S&P 500 rose on Thursday as better-than-expected Meta results further boosted sentiment around tech stocks, which led the market lower last year.
The gains come ahead of a trio of after-hours Big Tech results in Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.
The broader market index jumped 0.9%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose almost 2%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20 points, or about 0.1%.
Meta surged more than 19% after reporting a fourth-quarter revenue beat and announcing a $40 billion buyback. That helped investors see past losses in the business unit that oversees the metaverse.
Other mega-cap tech stocks rose on the back of these results. Shares of Google parent Alphabet rose more than 4%, while Amazon rose more than 3%. Apple shares rose more than 1 percent.
Technology stocks have outperformed in 2023, driven by recent signs of cooling inflation that investors expect could indicate a pause by the Federal Reserve in its aggressive rate hike campaign. The S&P 500 information technology sector is up more than 11% this year after falling more than 28% last year.
Shares traded higher on Wednesday after the Fed announced a 0.25 percentage point rate hike. While the central bank gave no indication of an upcoming pause in rate hikes, investors were encouraged by the smaller increase and Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments acknowledging slowing inflation.
Traders await the latest jobs report on Friday which will provide further insight into the labor market. Any sign of cooling could signal to investors that further rate hikes are off the table.
Investors will watch Thursday for earnings reports from household names, including apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Ford Motor and Starbucks.
