Tech stocks boost Nasdaq in mixed week on Wall Street

Despite Friday’s poor performance, the Nasdaq closed the week with gains of 3.31%.thanks to Thursday’s rise in Meta and gains from Apple. The S&P500 also had a green week, gaining 1.62%.while the the Dow Jones was the only one to post losses, of 0.15%.which left the weekly results mixed.

Apple started the day on an even keel after missing earnings guidance (after gaining almost 4% on Thursday), although it eventually managed to enter profit territory and closed 1 up, 5%. up 2.4%.partly due to the improved valuation of Wedbush.

“Gross margins are now expected at 44% at the midpoint and . That would be the highest gross margins in over a decade.” , he said Daniel Ivesanalyst of Wedbush Securities. In the December quarter, Apple’s gross margin was 43%. Over the past four years, Apple’s gross profit margin has averaged 39%.

Additionally, China’s exit from Covid-related lockdowns could be a headwind for Apple’s sales. Ives reiterated his outperformance rating for Apple shares and… raised its price target from $175 to $180..

In the same way, AlphabetAlphabet, Google’s parent company, corrected 2.75% after its figures were released, but rebounded more than 7% on Thursday. Y Amazon is down 8.4%, after rising 7% in the previous session.

She also had a busy day You’re herewhich rose 5% following the news that the US government has the extension of tax credits for the purchase of electric vehicles, although in the end the gains remained at 0.9%.

Nor is it useful, in the short term, for the results of the aid effectiveness survey to be known. Ford there Starbucks were also poorly received by investors.

JOBS REPORT: KEY DATA

In this scenario, the key figure for the day was the Employment report for the month of January in the United States, which showed a the labor market which soared during the first month of the year, with the creation of 517,000 jobs.while the consensus expected a drop to 185,000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, its lowest level in 53 years, while forecasts expected a rise to 3.6%, against 3 .5% in December.

Furthermore, the wages rose 0.3% month-on-month to 4.4% year-on-year, and the labor force participation rate increased slightly from 62.3% to 62.4%.

For Naeem Aslamchief market analyst at AvaTrade, “the statement was so good that many had to recheck it to make sure there was nothing wrong. The data confirmed that the US labor market is not only strong, but also robust, and recession fears are unnecessary.“.

“In terms of market reactions, the initial reaction was negative as traders fear that the Fed could adopt a more hawkish monetary policy given the strength of the labor market and its inflation target.. However, the reality is that today’s numbers are good for the US economy and that should encourage traders to back riskier assets once the dust settles,” he added.

Elsewhere, data has also been published by PMI and ISM activity in the services sector for January, which show the slight recovery of a sector that accounts for two-thirds of US GDP.

THE FEDERAL RESERVE HANGOVER

This while the consensus continues to analyze the messages delivered on Wednesday by the European Union. Federal Reserve (Fed)which slowed the pace of its interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Its president, Jerome PowellThe monetary tightening could end with two additional hikes, which would bring the final rate to 1.5%. 5%-5.25%.

The market is buying that the Fed could lead a economic soft landing and that, if there is a recession in the next few quarters in the United States, it will be mild. Investors also anticipate that rate cuts by the end of the yearalthough the central bank has denied that possibility, at least for now.

In other markets, the West Texas Crude Oil oil is down 3.40% ($73.30) and Brent lost 2.85% ($79.84). On the other hand, the euro depreciated by 1.06% ($1.0794), and the ounce of gold fell 2.70% ($1,878). Furthermore, the U.S. 10-Year Bond Yield rose to 3.536% and the bitcoin corrected by 1.9% ($23,351).