(New York) The New York Stock Exchange ended with records on Friday for the Dow Jones and S&P 500, driven by the huge rise in Meta stock and good technology results.
The NASDAQ climbed 1.74% to 15,628.95 points while Meta titles (Facebook, Instagram) soared more than 20%. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 reached new records, rising 0.35% to 38,654.42 points and 1.07% to 4958.61 points, respectively.
The momentum of Meta, which ended at the all-time high closing of $474.99 (+20.32%), represented one of the largest daily variations in stock market history. The value of Mark Zuckerberg’s group has in fact swelled in a single session by more than 200 billion dollars.
“It’s just mind-blowing,” commented Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management.
The group’s sales exceeded expectations at $40 billion in the fourth quarter (+25% year-on-year) for a profit of $14 billion.
Meta also announced the distribution, for the first time, of a dividend of 50 cents per share, which was particularly well received by shareholders, as well as a $50 billion share buyback program.
Amazon, another of the “Magnificent Seven”, with Meta, Apple and Microsoft in particular, was also at the party.
Shares of the online commerce giant climbed 7.87% to $171.81. Having benefited from a strong end-of-year season on the consumer side, the group saw its revenues soar by 14% year-on-year, reaching $170 billion from October to December. Its net profit came to $10.6 billion.
Apple, on the other hand, stagnated (-0.54%) although it returned to growth in the fourth quarter.
The Apple brand’s turnover reached $119.6 billion, up 2% year-on-year, more than expected, and the iPhone took over from Samsung the throne of the world’s largest seller of phones in 2023.
But iPhone sales in China disappointed, with revenue there falling 13%.
The online sales site dedicated to crafts Etsy also saw its shares jump (+4.24% to $75.70) after the investment group Elliott Investment Management became “a substantial investor” in the site. commerce, said a statement from Etsy.
The market also digested a stronger-than-expected report on American employment in January which divided the indices for part of the session while such dynamism in the labor market raised fears that the central bank (Fed) would retain higher rates for longer.
“But investors focused more on the results of Meta and Amazon and the enthusiasm around artificial intelligence than on the jobs report,” said Tom Cahill.
On the labor market side, hiring was much higher than expected at 353,000 and the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7%.
In reaction, “bond yields on ten-year Treasury bills have risen substantially, which demonstrates that the market is operating under the idea that there will be no rate cut in March,” added the analyst at Ventura Wealth Management.
Ten-year rates stood at 4.02% versus 3.88%.
Fed President Jerome Powell clearly ruled out on Wednesday the likelihood of a rate cut as early as March.
Elsewhere on the stock market, ExxonMobil (-0.45%) and Chevron (+2.92%) published lower results in the fourth quarter, in the wake of the normalization of hydrocarbon prices over the year compared to to peak in 2022.