US tech stocks rise
What’s happening: US stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision.
What happened: All three major US stock indices climbed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 leading the gains.
The release of data on mortgage rates also supported stock market sentiment.
Why it matters: US stocks have been under pressure this year due to fears of President Donald Trump’s tariff moves triggering a trade war and a resultant recession in the country.
The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rates steady on Wednesday, as was widely expected. US stocks made strong moves after the central bank’s Chairman Jerome Powell projected two rate cuts this year.
American technology companies
Markets also responded to Powell’s comments suggesting that the inflation impact of the latest tariffs is likely to be “transitory” and that the risk of the US economy slipping into recession remains low.
The US Mortgage Bankers Association released data on the 30-year mortgage rate on Wednesday. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.72% in the week ended March 14, from 6.67% in the previous period. Although this marked the first increase in nine weeks, the figure came in lower than the 6.97% reported in the same week in 2024.
Tesla’s stock climbed 4.68% to $235.86 on Wednesday. Shares of Google-parent Alphabet added 2.22% to close at $166.28 after the company announced the acquisition of cloud security startup Wiz to expand GCP’s security offering and compete better with AWS and Azure.
Nvidia’s stock gained 1.81% to $117.52 after news of the company joining a $30 billion AI investment consortium backed by Microsoft. Shares of Microsoft rose 1.12% to $387.82.
US tech companies rise
Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.41% to close at 17,750.79 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 added 1.08% to 5,675.29, while the Dow Jones index rose 0.92% to 41,964.63.
What to watch: Investors await data on current account (1630 UAE Time), initial jobless claims (1630 UAE Time), the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (1630 UAE Time) and existing home sales (1800 UAE Time) from the US today.
The US reported a record high current account deficit of $310.9 billion in the third quarter of 2024, widening from $275.0 billion in the previous period and exceeding market expectations of $284 billion. The current account deficit is expected to widen further to $325.5 billion in the fourth quarter.
US technology stocks rise
Initial jobless claims, which eased by 2,000 to 220,000 on the first week of March, is expected to rise to 224,000 in the second week. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index, which declined to 18.1 in February from 44.3 in January, is projected to fall sharply lower to 8.5 in March. Existing home sales in the US declined to an annualised rate of 4.08 million in January from 4.29 million in the previous month, is estimated to fall further to 3.95 million in February.