The Nasdaq Composite is up over 2.5% Thursday in afternoon trading as technology stocks including Facebook parent Meta Platforms, iPhone maker Apple, and Windows maker Microsoft post gains on low volume trading and an improving economic outlook.

In an interview with FOX Business, David Russell, VP of market intelligence at TradeStation, said, “Sentiment has remained negative all quarter, but investors are looking for a little year-end cheer today.”

“History favors Santa Rallies, especially when volumes are light and there’s no major news to trigger selloffs,” he continued. “Many of the big growth stocks have erased most, or all of their pandemic gains as investors begin bottom-fishing and looking for laggards to bounce in January, which is another common seasonal pattern.”

Screen displays financial news on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Dec. 29, 2022.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 10478.086765 +264.80 +2.59%

LAID OFF TECH WORKERS QUICKLY FIND NEW JOBS

Shares of technology bellwethers have been hard hit after announcing layoffs or hiring freezes.

Apple, Meta and Twitter are among the companies either implementing hiring freezes or letting workers go as rising interest rates fuel fears of an economic slowdown or recession.

Apple has reportedly instituted a hiring freeze for many jobs outside of research and development as it tries to reduce budgets next year.

Microsoft laid off employees in October on expectations of slowing growth due to weakness in the PC market.

Meta Platforms was expected to begin large-scale layoffs last month, while Twitter—which is no longer publicly traded—laid off half its workforce to trim costs following its $44 billion purchase by Elon Musk.

Woman passes Now Hiring sign in window

Woman passes a hiring sign in front of a Bob’s Stores location, in Attleboro, Mass., June 2, 2022.  (AP Photo/Steven Senne / AP Images)

BIG TECH BRACES FOR RECESSION WITH LITANY OF HIRING FREEZES, LAYOFFS

TradeStation’s Russell also pointed to Thursday’s unemployment numbers are a reason for optimism.

“The rise in jobless claims has offered some economic relief to help ease interest rate fears,” Russell added. 

Data compiled by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday showed workers receiving benefits is at its highest level since February, suggesting the Fed’s interest-rate hike strategy is beginning to stall economic growth and inflation.

Year-to-date, the tech-heavy Nasdaq benchmark remains approximately 33% beneath the redline, still outperforming the Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector index. That’s down almost 40%.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
META META PLATFORMS INC. 120.26 +4.64 +4.01%
AAPL APPLE INC. 129.61 +3.57 +2.83%
MSFT MICROSOFT CORP. 241.01 +6.48 +2.76%

Megan Henney contributed to this report.

Source link

You May Also Like

US to propose new rules for airline cancellations, delays | Long Island Business News

The Biden administration is working on new regulations that would require airlines…

How Digital Payments Are Disrupting Our Entire Ecosystem

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Propelled by the shift…

My Favorite Energy Stock Under $10 | Entrepreneur

Oil is back in the headlines as it has rocketed higher on…

Hugging Face, GitHub and more unite to defend open source in EU AI legislation

Head over to our on-demand library to view sessions from VB Transform…