new York Encouraged by the Fed’s latest interest rate signal, investors on Wall Street grabbed stocks on Thursday. In the tech sector, a jump in the share price of Facebook’s parent Meta brightened the mood.
The index of the technology exchange Nasdaq climbed by three percent to 12,173 points. The broad leading index S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent to 4174 points, while the Dow Jones index fell 0.2 percent to 34,036 points.
The Federal Reserve only hiked the key rate by a quarter of a percentage point. After a series of relatively aggressive interest rate hikes, some normalcy is returning to monetary policy. “Investors are encouraged by the fact that the Fed is trying to be at or near the end of its rate hike program,” said investment strategist Sam Stovall of CFRA Research in New York.
The statements by Fed boss Jerome Powell on Wednesday evening also fueled confidence that the economy would get away with a black eye and that an expected recession would be rather mild, said stockbrokers.
The prospect of billions of dollars in share buybacks and falling costs got Meta shareholders cheering. The papers jumped 25 percent up. Papers from Apple, Alphabet and Amazon rose between three and six percent in the wake of this.
On the other hand, Merck’s annual forecast, which was lower than expected, caused long faces. Shares of the drugmaker fell 4.5 percent.
Look at the individual values
Pinterest: Pinterest is also involved in job cuts in the US technology sector. As a result, the shares of the online photo pinboard rose by around eight percent. The company plans to cut 150 jobs or lay off a little less than five percent of the workforce, reports the Bloomberg news agency, citing insiders. A Pinterest spokesman confirmed the job cuts but declined to comment on the number of jobs eliminated. The group intends to present figures in the coming week.
US stock exchange expert Koch: “Meta meets all expectations of Wall Street”
Eli Lilly: The US pharmaceutical company is feeling the dwindling demand for its corona drugs. In the fourth quarter, sales therefore fell by nine percent to $ 7.3 billion, as the company announced on Thursday. The papers lose more than six percent.
Harley-Davidson: Customers were not deterred from buying the cult motorcycles by inflation and concerns about the economy. This caused the traditional US company to jump in profits to $ 39.7 million in the fourth quarter after $ 21.6 million a year ago, as Harley Davidson announced on Thursday. The papers of the group rise by almost nine percent.
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