US stocks jump as investors move past Fed meeting and look to earnings from Apple and Amazon

• US stocks climbed Thursday, with major indexes gaining about 1%.
• Traders looked past Wednesday’s Fed meeting and turned to earnings from Apple and Amazon. 
• The tech giants will report after the close, giving more insight into the strength of the Magnificent Seven. 

US stocks climbed Thursday, recouping losses from the prior session’s sell-off following the Federal Reserve’s cautious messaging on rate cuts. 

The S&P 500 recovered most of its losses from the prior session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite also up about 1% for the day. 

Investors are gearing up for earnings from Apple, Amazon, and Meta Platforms, which will report financial results for the last three months of 2023 after the closing bell.  

Apple, for one, is coming off four consecutive quarters of revenue dips, and product demand in China remains top of mind. For Amazon, its cloud division and holiday sales will be key topics for analysts, while investors will be monitoring Meta’s rebound in its advertising business.

On Wednesday, Jerome Powell maintained that the war on inflation hasn’t yet been won, and it’s still too early to pull back on restrictive policy.

In his press conference, he dashed markets’ hopes for an imminent rate cut and reiterated the central bank’s stance for three rate cuts in 2024.

Meanwhile, initial jobless claims data on Thursday showed claims jumped to 224,000 for the week ending January 27, above consensus expectations. Investors will be focused on the nonfarm payroll report on Friday morning. Employers are estimated to have added 185,000 jobs in January. 

“As we have been stressing for the past eight months, the revival in productivity is encouraging for the broader inflation and economic outlook,” said EY chief economist Gregory Daco. “If companies can generate strong productivity growth, they will be able to control costs and protect margins without sacrificing talent in an environment of still-elevated wages and fading pricing power.”

Here’s where US indexes stood as the market closed at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday: 

• S&P 500: 4,906.21, up 1.25%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 38,519.77, up 0.97% (+369.54 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 15,361.64, up 1.3%

Here’s what else is going on: 

• The stock market is flashing a buy signal as the long-term bull market looks intact, a CIO said. 
• 23andMe’s stock just keeps falling.
• OPEC slashed oil production last month, part of the group’s plan to boost sagging prices. 
• Beijing hasn’t been able to stop foreign investors from fleeing China’s stock market.
• Bond king Bill Gross said the US’s $34 trillion debt deficit will drive inflation and get worse this decade.
• A commercial real estate crash is unfolding, and regional banks are feeling the pain.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto: 

• Oil prices dropped, with West Texas Intermediate down 2.54% to $73.93 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, moved lower 2.20% to $78.78 a barrel.
• Gold edged higher 0.24% to $2,072.50 per ounce.
• The 10-year yield moved lower 1 basis point to hover at 3.861%.
• Bitcoin climbed 0.58% to $43,014.