Amazon Meta, and Exxon Earnings Fuel Wall Street Advance

Barry Adams
02 Feb, 2024
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street looked up and extended weekly gains after investors reviewed another batch of earnings and awaited the release of the jobs report.

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite advanced more than 0.5% after investors looked past the latest comments from the Federal Reserve.

Investors stepped up to increase high-growth and tech stocks and increased bets that the U.S. economy will stay stronger in 2024, driven by rising consumer spending and a resilient economy.

Investors are hoping that earnings growth will remain stable or may pick up in the year if the Federal Reserve decides to cut rates in the second half.

  

U.S. Indexes and Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.5% to 4,958.27, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1% to 15,462.68.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes increased to 4.23%. 10-year Treasury notes declined to 3.88%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged down to 4.11%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.25 to $74.07 a barrel, and natural gas prices decreased 1 cent to $2.06 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $0.93 to $2,055.75 an ounce and extended the previous week's gains after the U.S. dollar drifted slightly lower in international trading.

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 102.97.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Amazon.com jumped 6.4% to $169.35 after the online retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Apple declined 2.9% to $181.87 after the computer device maker reported better-than-expected sales in the latest quarter, but the company's struggle in China overshadowed overall results.

Meta jumped 17% to $461.50 after the online networking platform operator reported a sharp rise in revenue and earnings and announced its first dividend.

Exxon Mobil jumped 1% to $103.39 after the largest U.S. oil company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, but profit fell sharply because of a sharp decline in crude oil prices.

Chevron increased 1.2% to $149.70 after the second-largest U.S. oil company reported a decline in earnings in its latest quarter but also rewarded its shareholders with record dividends and stock buybacks in 2023.