Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 29, 2025.
NYSE
Stocks rose in a volatile session on Thursday as Wall Street digested recent quarterly results from a slew of megacap tech companies.
The S&P 500 added 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite traded 0.2% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 138 points, or 0.3%.
Shares of Meta Platforms and Tesla respectively added 2% and 4%, while Microsoft shares dipped 6% after the companies reported earnings. Meta beat on top and bottom lines, but Microsoft shares faltered after the company’s quarterly revenue forecast disappointed. Tesla shrugged off an earnings and revenue miss.
“We had three major megacap technology companies report last night and for the most part, all of them sort of came in and out of their earnings unscathed,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management. “That’s a positive when you look at the aggregate number of companies that have reported and how many companies are beating expectations both on the top and bottom line.”
On the other hand, investors were a bit cautious to buy after fourth-quarter GDP growth came in at just 2.3%, missing expectations.
Wall Street is coming off a losing session after the Federal Reserve paused its interest rate-cutting campaign, leaving its borrowing rate unchanged in a range between 4.25% and 4.5%. In their post-meeting statement, policymakers noted that inflation remains “somewhat elevated.”
“We kind of get the chance to put the Fed not cutting rates in the rearview mirror because they’re likely doing that for the right reasons, meaning the economic data seems consistent with keeping rates unchanged for the time being,” Hogan said. “This also gives them time to look at policy from the new administration and try to model out what kind of impact that will have on both the economy and inflation.”
He added: “So we’re sort of in a place today where the dust has settled on the Fed meeting, earnings on balance are better than expected and the economic data continues to be constructive. That’s what’s driving the turnaround.”
Other “Magnificent Seven” names are set to report in the coming days, with Apple’s results being due for a Thursday release. Amazon will soon follow suit, as the megacap tech company reports next week. Investors are also looking ahead to Friday’s personal consumption expenditures price index report for December.
The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite are on pace to end the week in negative territory, despite making up some of their losses from Monday’s selloff. The blue-chip Dow is the only major index tracking for a weekly gain.
