news/AMZN/2023.02.02/Nasdaq soars more than 3% on Meta boost, Fed relief.txt

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)*Meta jumps on $40 billion share buyback*Merck slides on disappointing forecast*Align Technology climbs to nine-month high*U.S. weekly jobless claims fall to nine-month low*Indexes: Dow 0.27%, S&P 1.49%, Nasdaq 3.24%Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq rose to a near five-month
intraday high as Meta Platforms surged on rigorous cost
controls, while a dovish message from Federal Reserve Chair
Jerome Powell boosted appetite for risky assets.The Facebook parent soared 26.9% to a near
eight-month high after it announced a new $40 billion share
buyback and said it would cut costs in 2023 by $5 billion to
between $89 billion and $95 billion.The S&P 500 Value index housing Meta jumped 2% to
more than a year's high."It certainly seems that markets are up because earnings
for Meta were surprisingly positive," said Sam Stovall, chief
investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.Seven of the top 11 S&P 500 sectors advanced, with the
communication services sector, which includes Meta,
jumping 6.7% to its highest in five months.Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com
Inc rose between 3.2% and 6.4% ahead of their quarterly
results after markets close.Wall Street's main indexes got a boost as Powell
acknowledged that inflation was starting to ease. The U.S.
central bank raised rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday.After a bruising 2022, U.S. stocks have made a strong
comeback, with megacap companies gaining on hopes that the Fed
will ease its hawkish monetary policy stance."Investors are finally looking beyond the specter of the
Federal Reserve raising rates. They see there is an eventual end
to the misery of rate hikes and are realizing so many stocks
were oversold in the misery of last year," said Peter Andersen,
founder of Andersen Capital Management.Meanwhile, data showed jobless claims unexpectedly fell last
week to a nine-month low, highlighting the labor market's
resilience, ahead of nonfarm payroll numbers on Friday.At 13:23 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was
down 93.07 points, or 0.27%, at 33,999.89, the S&P 500
was up 61.41 points, or 1.49%, at 4,180.62, and the Nasdaq
Composite was up 383.38 points, or 3.24%, at 12,199.70.The S&P 500's chart formed a "golden cross" pattern, in
which its 50-day moving average vaulted above the 200-day moving
average, perceived by many as a bullish signal for near-term
momentum.The price-weighted Dow was the only major index in the red
after disappointing earnings by some of its components.
Honeywell International Inc shed 0.5% after posting a
28.6% fall in quarterly profit.Drugmaker Merck & Co slid 4.6% on a
lower-than-expected annual forecast, while Eli Lilly & Co
dropped 5.5% on missing quarterly revenue estimates.Align Technology Inc surged 29.3% to a nine-month
high on its first quarterly results beat in a year.Analysts now see earnings of S&P 500 firms declining 2.4%
for the quarter, according to Refinitiv estimates.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.74-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE, and by a 3.15-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 135 new highs and nine new lows.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Johann M Cherian in
Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Anil D'Silva)