The January jobs report came in considerably better than predicted, and quarterly results from technology companies, like Facebook parent Meta, above forecasts, leading to the S&P 500 setting a new record high on Friday.
The broad market index finished at 4,958.61, up 1.1% from its previous record close of 4,927.93 on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high of 38,654.42 after rising 134.58 points, or 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite reached 15,628.95, up 1.7%.
After the social networking behemoth’s quarterly results exceeded analysts’ projections, Meta’s stock surged by more than 20%. Along with announcing that it will pay a quarterly dividend for the first time, Facebook’s parent company authorised a $50 billion share repurchase programme. A beat on fourth-quarter earnings sent Amazon shares up 7.9%.
Tech stock gains helped divert investors’ attention from an extremely negative jobs report that had driven up interest rates earlier in the day on Friday. The government said that the U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, far exceeding the Dow Jones projection of 185,000 economists. This news caused the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield to soar a stunning 17 basis points to 4.02%. A base point is equivalent to 0.01%.
Source (CNBC)
