by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Noel Randewich
April 28 (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply higher on Thursday, lifted by strong quarterly results from Meta Platforms which helped a rebound in tech and high-growth stocks, while alleviating fears over a contraction in the economy. US economy during the January-March period.
The Dow Jones index gained 1.85% to 33,916.39 points.
The broader S&P-500 gained 2.47% to 4,287.50 points.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced for its part by 3.06% to 12,871.53 points.
After reporting a stronger-than-expected rise in the number of Facebook users on Wednesday, Meta Platforms, the social network’s parent company, jumped 17.6%.
Among the major sectors of the S&P-500, those of communication services and technologies were particularly successful, with increases of 4.04% and 3.89% respectively.
Ahead of the post-closing publication of their quarterly results, Apple and Amazon ended the session in the green.
Investors shunned high-growth stocks for weeks amid growing concerns about soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a possible economic slowdown.
Thus, despite the gains recorded on Thursday, the Nasdaq still posted a 10% decline in April and is heading for its largest monthly drop since March 2020, i.e. at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“When interest rates, the inflation curve and the action of the Fed are so volatile, it becomes much more difficult to value other assets,” commented Zach Hill, an executive at Horizon Investments, in Charlotte in North Carolina.
“We’ve seen a lot of quarterly results over the past two days and weeks; overall, barring some outliers, the fundamentals for the US private sector are pretty strong,” he said.
Data released today showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter, driven by a rebound in COVID-19 infections and a rising trade deficit due to .
War in Ukraine, lockdowns imposed in China in the face of the health crisis and soaring inflation are weighing on the outlook for the global economy, fueling market volatility ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting (Fed) next week.
While in full swing, the earnings season is better than expected so far, with 81% of S&P-500 companies that have released their results having exceeded expectations.
Qualcomm jumped 9.7% after reporting a better-than-expected revenue forecast.
(French version Jean Terzian)