Wall St rebounds as earnings heat up, short worries cool
Reuters
Published Jan 28, 2021 07:54AM ET
Updated Jan 28, 2021 04:05PM ET
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, bouncing from sharp losses in the prior session, thanks to a broad rally as earnings season got off to a strong start and fears lessened around hedge funds selling long positions to cover shorts.
Heavyweights, including Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc, were among the biggest boosts to the S&P 500, a day after the three major U.S. indexes suffered their biggest daily percentage drop in three months.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported holiday-quarter sales and profit that beat Wall Street expectations. However, shares of the iPhone maker fell after climbing about 7% to start the year.
With quarterly earnings season in full swing, market participants have looked to whether companies could justify high valuations, with the forward price-to-earnings ratio on the benchmark S&P index near 20-year highs at almost 22.7.
"By and large the surprises have been positive, even more so than typical and by and large companies are showing positive operating leverage where they are able to grow earnings a little bit faster than they are able to grow revenue," said Ellen Hazen, portfolio manager at F.L.Putnam Investment Management in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
"It is still early days where we are only a third of the way through the S&P but the surprises look more positive than usual and that bodes well as an outlook for the economy and for the markets."
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 300.75 points, or 0.99%, to 30,603.92, the S&P 500 gained 36.49 points, or 0.97%, to 3,787.26 and the Nasdaq Composite added 66.56 points, or 0.5%, to 13,337.16.
Shares in GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) Holdings Inc tumbled after a meteoric rise in recent sessions in a social media-driven trading frenzy that shook stock markets. Trading platforms, including Robinhood and Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ:IBKR), restricted trading in several stocks that soared this week, easing concerns about a ripple effect to the broader market.
"Trading platforms are not going to want to stick their necks out and be on the frontline of what they may see as a reckless war, in part, against the elite and the system of Wall Street that's being democratized by information and the social media," said Eric Schiffer, chief executive officer of private equity firm the Patriarch Organization.
Of the 159 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings through Thursday morning, 83% posted results that topped analyst expectations, according to Refinitiv data, well above the 76% beat rate over the past four quarters.
Get The News You Want
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) fell in choppy trading despite soundly beating quarterly revenue estimates, while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) lost ground after posting disappointing fourth-quarter results and failing to provide a clear target for 2021 vehicle deliveries.
But Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA) jumped after it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue, as broadband demand continued to offset pandemic-related weakness in its theme park and filmed entertainment businesses.
A Commerce Department report showed fourth-quarter gross domestic product increased at a 4% annualized rate, in line with expectations, as the virus and lack of another spending package curtailed consumer spending, while a separate report showed 847,000 more people filed jobless claims last week, lower than the 875,000 estimate.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.