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The Nasdaq Composite rose Thursday as fourth-quarter gross home product got here in above expectations, and traders parsed by way of the latest batch of corporate earnings.
The tech-heavy index jumped 1.2%, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 104 factors, or 0.3%, larger. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%.
GDP data released Thursday showed the economy expand at an annualized charge of 2.9% during the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department mentioned. That’s above the two.8% Dow Jones estimate, however represents a slight cooldown from the third-quarter studying.
“With in the present day’s better-than-expected GDP quantity, I feel traders are considering, perhaps we are able to get away with a fairly delicate, delicate recession that’s not more likely to throw us into an excellent deeper bear market when all is alleged and accomplished,” mentioned Sam Stovall, CFRA Research’s chief funding strategist.
Meanwhile, earnings season trudged on, with strong results from Tesla giving the Nasdaq and electric vehicle stocks a boost. Tesla jumped 9% after posting report income and stable earnings. Beaten-up expertise giants Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet added greater than 1% every.
Airline earnings additionally rolled out, with Southwest falling on a larger-than-expected loss fueled by its holiday meltdown. American Airlines rose on a fourth-quarter beat.
Elsewhere, Chevron added 3% after asserting a $75 billion share repurchasing program.
Wall Street is coming off a combined session, however all the main averages are headed for weekly, and month-to-month, features. The Dow and S&P are up 1.5% and 1.9% to date this week, respectively. The Nasdaq has gained 3.1% this week and is on tempo for its greatest month since July.
Focus now shifts to subsequent week’s Federal Reserve coverage, the place the central financial institution is broadly anticipated to announce a 25 foundation level hike because it battles excessive inflation. Investors will probably be on the lookout for clue into how a lot additional the Fed intends to hike earlier than it cuts charges.
