By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 25th, 2024
The market still remains very tipsy and while the tech sector is largely holding up with backing from technology development, other industries also have to step up in order to be able to stay resilient.
The tides appear to be changing for the major US stock indices as a bullish revival swept the financial ecosystem following impressive quarterly performance reports from the top tech giants in the country.
The Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC) has jumped by 2.43%, adding more than 283 points to 12,142.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX: .DJI) also inked a very bullish upsurge by adding 524 points, atop a 1.57% growth to 33,826.16. Additionally, the S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) saw a 1.96% growth to end Thursday’s session at 4,135.35.
By their design, the stock market indices are known to be so sensitive to events in the industry as they duly track investors’ sentiments per time. With so much negativity weighing down the US stock indices for the past few weeks, the current move has marked some minor historic moves across the board.
This particular rally was precipitated by the massive performance of tech giant, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) in the first quarter. The company closed Thursday’s session up 13.93% after reporting a 3% rise in sales from $27.91 billion a year earlier. The company increased its metrics across the board including the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) which came in at $9.62 as against the $9.30 that was expected by analysts.
The Meta performance as well as its peers have changed the dull outlook of these major tech stocks with the current upsurge coming as the best day for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 since January.
“The market was waiting with bated breath for Big Tech,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial. “Across the board, it hasn’t disappointed, and the market needed that.”
US Stock Indices and the Tech Influence
There are many stocks represented in the three core US stock indices around, however, considering their large market capitalization and positive investor outlook, the FAANG stocks have a major sway on the direction of the market.
Besides Meta, the likes of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) also printed bullish growths in solidarity with Meta shares. These growths come at a time when Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data remains weaker-than-expected.
With the Federal Reserve being on an aggressive interest rate hike spree since last year, the GDP data may suggest a potential slowdown in the hawkish moves from the Feds.
The market still remains very tipsy and while the tech sector is largely holding up with backing from technology development, other industries also have to step up in order to be able to stay resilient. With the key performance figures from Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) reported earlier, there is hope that despite the groom, emerging markets have the power to truly stir the much-anticipated change prophecy.