US stocks climbed on Thursday in a choppy trading session as Wall Street weighed earnings from major tech giants and digested fresh economic data.
The S&P 500 gained 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%, recovering some losses from earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 290 points (0.7%) as investors reacted to mixed corporate earnings, economic growth concerns, and anticipation of key inflation data.
Tech stocks drive gains despite mixed earnings
Shares of Meta Platforms rose 2%, and Tesla surged 4%, helping lift the broader market.
Meta delivered stronger-than-expected earnings, beating analyst estimates on both revenue and profit.
Tesla, despite missing Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue, managed to shake off the negative sentiment.
Meanwhile, Microsoft fell 6% after providing a weaker-than-expected revenue outlook for the upcoming quarter, highlighting potential headwinds for the cloud computing sector.
Investor sentiment remained cautious after the US economy grew just 2.3% in Q4, missing expectations and signaling a potential slowdown in economic momentum.
Fed pause keeps Wall Street on edge
Markets are still adjusting to the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.25%-4.50% in its latest policy meeting.
While the central bank acknowledged that inflation remains “somewhat elevated,” policymakers refrained from signaling an imminent rate cut.
Investors are now looking ahead to Friday’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index report for further clues on inflation trends.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite remain on track to end the week lower, despite Thursday’s recovery, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is the only major index positioned for a weekly gain.
Comcast suffers worst sell-off since 2008
Comcast (CMCSA) shares plummeted more than 12%, heading for their steepest one-day loss since October 2008, after the company reported disappointing broadband subscriber numbers.
The media and telecommunications giant, which owns NBCUniversal, posted larger-than-expected losses in broadband customers and reported lower-than-anticipated Peacock streaming service subscriptions, overshadowing an otherwise solid earnings report.
Grayscale launches Bitcoin Miners ETF
Crypto asset manager Grayscale launched its Bitcoin Miners ETF (MNRS) on Thursday, marking its latest effort to expand into traditional financial markets.
Unlike its existing funds that hold Bitcoin directly, the new ETF focuses on publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, offering investors an equity-based approach to crypto exposure.
“As Bitcoin adoption grows, we believe the Bitcoin mining industry will gain further value,” Grayscale said in a statement. The firm joins competitors like Bitwise and CoinShares, which have also introduced equity-focused crypto investment products.
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