© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
(Noon updates with stock moves, investor comment)
By Johann M Cherian and Noel Randewich
(Reuters) – Wall Street rallied on Monday as investors awaited inflation data likely to hint at the path of future Federal Reserve rate hikes, while Meta Platforms gained after a report said the parent company of Facebook (NASDAQ:) was planning further layoffs.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:) were up more than 3%, while Apple (NASDAQ:) and Amazon (NASDAQ:) were each up more than 1%. Those four technology-related heavyweights contributed more than any other stock to session gains.
To help galvanize Microsoft, Stifel raised his price target on the software company and said it is clearly looking to change Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:) Google search domain through its integration with ChatGPT.
Investors are laser-focused on January inflation data due for release on Tuesday to reassess their bets on the path of the central bank’s monetary policy.
Wall Street’s main indexes lost ground last week after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that interest rates may need to rise more than expected in the central bank’s battle against inflation.
“Today it’s just a natural reaction in the opposite direction after we’ve seen strong selling pressure,” said Keith Buchanan, said Keith Buchanan, a portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.
Meta rose more than 3% after the Financial Times reported on Sunday that the company was preparing to announce a new round of job cuts, building on layoffs last November.
Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indices, 10 rose, led by information technology, up 1.86%, followed by a 1.43% gain in consumer discretionary. The energy index fell 0.3%.
In afternoon trade, the S&P 500 rose 1.05% to 4,133.27 points.
The Nasdaq gained 1.48% to 11,891.06 points, while the Nasdaq rose 0.99% to 34,205.73 points.
Fidelity National Information Services Inc slumped nearly 14% following the banking and payment processing conglomerate’s decision to spin off its merchant payments business.
As US quarterly earnings reports dwindle, 69% of S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far have beaten earnings expectations, according to Refinitiv data on Friday. Analysts expect fourth-quarter earnings to fall nearly 3% from a year earlier.
Topics that advance outnumber those that fall within the S&P 500 by a ratio of 7.5 to one.
The S&P 500 posted four new highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq posted 60 new highs and 50 new lows.
