Markets: News  

By Christine Idzelis and Joseph Adinolfi

Nasdaq on pace for best January since 2001

U.S. stocks finished higher Friday, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite leading the way up, as investors assessed fresh data on inflation and the economy as well as companies' fourth-quarter earnings reports. The Nasdaq booked a fourth straight week of gains, its longest weekly win streak since August.

How stock indexes traded

For the week, the Dow rose 1.8%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 4.3%.

What drove markets

Stocks rose Friday, as investors parsed fresh economic data, including a reading from the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showing more signs of the cost of living cooling in the U.S.

The personal-consumption-expenditures price index rose 0.1% in December for a rate of inflation of 5% over the past year, according to a report Friday from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Inflation on a year-over-year basis slowed from 5.5% in November.

PCE and so-called core PCE were "right in line" with year-over-year estimates, said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, by phone Friday. Both measures showed a decline from the previous month on a year-over-year basis, which is "good news on inflation."

So-called core PCE, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 4.4% in the year through December, compared with a 4.7% rate in the 12 months through November. Meanwhile, consumer spending fell 0.2% last month, the report shows.

"The consumer is likely to be a weak card in the GDP deck" in the first quarter, Sonders said.

She said nothing from this week's economic data "moves the needle" in terms of her continued expectations for the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points at its policy meeting next week. She expects the labor market and economy would need to weaken "pretty significantly" before the Fed starts cutting rates.

See: Fed set to deliver quarter-point rate hike along with 'one last hawkish sting in the tail'

Still, the upshot from all the economic data released in the week appeared to be that the Fed has been succeeding in curbing inflation, without instigating a large uptick in unemployment.

This brighter outlook for the U.S. economy, combined with optimism surrounding China's reopening, have helped to bolster global markets since the start of the year, market strategists said.

"The re-opening of China, weaker gas prices, and growing signs of a 'soft landing' for the U.S. economy as it appears that the Federal Reserve is reducing inflation without creating significant unemployment, are amongst the factors which have improved the outlook for global markets," said Nigel Green, CEO of the deVere Group.

However, the strength of corporate earnings and guidance remain a concern as the fourth-quarter earnings season rolls on.

"Even though in aggregate the market's done okay" in terms of fourth-quarter results, companies that are missing Wall Street's estimates are being punished "more than the beats are being rewarded," Charles Schwab's Sonders said.

Shares of Intel Corp. (INTC) finished 6.4% lower Friday after the chip maker reported an earnings miss.

"Intel earnings disappointed everyone," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst for the Americas at Oanda, in a note Friday. "First quarter revenue guidance was terrible."

U.S. stocks have seen a strong rally since the beginning of the year, with some of the most beaten-down segments of the market, including the technology sector, helping to lead the recovery.

The Nasdaq Composite is on pace for its best January since 2001, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The tech-heavy index has soared 11% this year, easily outperforming the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Read:QQQ is bleeding assets, but are ETF investors 'finally bailing' on growth stocks just as tech stocks jump in 2023?

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the Nasdaq-100 index, has jumped 11.3% so far this month, according to FactSet data. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, has risen 6.1% in January.

See:A 30-year revolution: SPY opened stocks to the masses, spawning a raft of options for today's investors

Investors received some other economic data reports on Friday, including U.S. consumer sentiment, which improved in late January to 64.9, according to the University of Michigan's gauge of consumer attitudes. U.S. pending-home sales rose 2.5% in December, ending a six-month losing streak.

"I'm pretty sure pending home sales doesn't account for the possibility of cancellations," Sonders cautioned. "It could be a false sign of hope."

Companies in focus

--Steve Goldstein contributed to this article.

-Christine Idzelis

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2023 08:10 ET (13:10 GMT)

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