4.05pm: Tech stocks rally but the Nasdaq still headed for its worst month since October 2008
US stocks finished the trading session sharply higher, led by strong financial results from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
At the close, the Dow gained 565 points to 34,726, while the S&P 500 added 105 points at 4,432 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 418 points to 13,771.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares jumped 7% after the consumer electronics giant reported record quarterly sales and better-than-expected earnings despite supply chain challenges.
12.00pm: US indices bounce back
US stock indexes clawed their way back into the green around midday on Friday after a mixed opening as investors eyed fresh inflation reports and earnings from major tech companies.
By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 0.5%, or 189 points, at 34,350; while the broader S&P 500 and the tech-savvy Nasdaq Composite were up by 1.1% and 2%, respectively.
“Trading in the US this afternoon has been characterised by a series of dramatic, short-term swings that illustrate perfectly the tussle going on between buyers and sellers,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG. “It looks like neither side has the strength to prevail at present, and both have valid reasons for their views.”
He added: “The latter is reinforced by the hawkish Fed that emerged on Wednesday during the post-meeting press conference, while the latter is buttressed by the tempting bargains on offer among indices and stocks that have fallen sharply so far this month.”
11.15am: Proactive North America headlines:
Red Cloud Securities initiates coverage of Altaley Mining with a Buy recommendation
Apple reassures with stellar festive sales and excites with augmented reality products move
Goldshore Resources reports continuing broad zones of gold mineralization from drilling at Moss Lake Gold Deposit
Silvercorp Metals hits multiple high-grade silver and gold zones in 2021 drilling at TLP mine in China
Metal Tiger notes progress by associate Cobre at Perrinvale
Heritage Cannabis hits milestone with products available on Spectrum Therapeutics online platform
Clean Air Metals hails publication of its ESG report related to its Thunder Bay North project in Ontario
Champion Gaming (TSX-V:WAGR) appoints sports and media veteran Ishwara Glassman Chrein to its board of directors
World Copper and Cardero Resource update on plan of arrangement to combine their businesses
Algernon Pharmaceuticals granted Ifenprodil patent for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Canada
Fobi AI (TSX-V:FOBI, OTCQB:FOBIF) inks marketing deal with Abbot’s Butcher, a premium US plant-based protein company
Thesis Gold identifies new targets at 'underexplored' Ranch gold project in British Columbia
10.10am: US shares start firmly lower
US stocks started the last day of the trading week in the red as investors mulled over the latest inflation and wage data amid the backdrop of a Central Bank gearing up for monetary tightening.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 304 points at 33,856. The S&P 500 lost around 27 at 4,299. The Nasdaq shed around 83 points at 13,269.
According to an official report, personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, increased by 0.4% in December 2021, representing a 5.8% year-over-year increase.
Meanwhile, US consumer spending slowed down in December amid the higher inflation. Personal consumption decreased 0.6% last month, even as personal incomes grew by 0.3%.
US wage growth was seen slowing in the fourth quarter to December 31 last year to 1.2%, after it jumped 1.6% in the third quarter, which may provide an unexpected benefit for the Fed's plans, suggested analysts.
"One quarter’s data prove nothing, but with labor participation creeping higher, and measures of excess demand flattening in recent months, it is reasonable to think that wage growth is unlikely to re-accelerate dramatically," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"In the meantime, this report eases the immediate pressure on the FOMC to act aggressively; the sighs of relief from Fed Towers should be audible on Wall Street."
6.40am: US stocks poised for mixed start
US stocks look set for a mixed open on Friday but are still poised for a fourth consecutive weekly loss after a volatile few sessions as investors await more earnings as well as the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat, while those for the S&P 500 index added 0.1%, and contracts for the tech-laden Nasdaq-100 rose 0.5%
The S&P 500 has fallen 1.6% so far over the week, putting it on course for its longest losing streak since September 2020.
The falls came after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell added to expectations the central bank will start a series of interest-rate increases in March after the Fed’s policy meeting Wednesday.
Investors will have consumer-spending data from the Commerce Department at 8.30am ET to digest. Economists expect the figures to show a spending fell in December as rising coronavirus infections dented demand.
Also due at 8.30am is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge is forecast to show a continuation of the price pressures that have pushed the central bank to unwind stimulus and make it set to raise interest rates.
Stocks have been choppy despite another solid round of earnings, with almost a third of the companies on the S&P 500 having reported fourth-quarter results so far and 78% of them have beaten analysts’ estimates for earnings per share, according to FactSet.
Companies due to report before the bell on Friday include Chevron, Caterpillar and Colgate-Palmolive.
In premarket trading, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares rose around 5% after the biggest US company by market capitalization posted record revenue and profits after-hours on Thursday.
But shares of brokerage Robinhood Markets, which reported a quarterly loss of $423 million after-hours, dropped 14% in pre-market trading.