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Tech stocks buck the broader market trend

Strong quarterly figures from US big tech firms lifted the tech sector on Wednesday even as the broader equity indices remained under pressure mid-week. Aside from jitters surrounding the banking sector, investors were staying cautious ahead of key central bank decisions and macro data. The US Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, the PCE deflator, is set for release on Friday and the central bank is due to announce its policy rate decision Wednesday of next week.

Date
Auteur
Shane Strowmatt, LGT
Temps de lecture
5 minutes
Big Tech Apps
© Shutterstock

After Microsoft und Google parent company Alphabet released quarterly figures that beat expectations late Tuesday, tech stocks were some of the few to stay in positive territory on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index ended the day up around 0.6%. Late Wednesday, Meta also released its quarterly earnings and gave an update on its use of AI, a topic that investors are watching closely to see how tech companies can monetize the technology. Meta said it was using AI to boost traffic to Facebook and Instagram, where it generates revenue through ads. Like Microsoft and Google the day before, Meta’s first-quarter earnings data surprised the market to the upside, with both revenue and profit beating market expectations. The company also said costs would likely be less than previously forecast this year, a sign that recent layoffs may be bearing fruit.

Despite the positive sentiment in the tech industries, shares of gaming company Activision dropped 11.45% on Wednesday after the company’s takeover by Microsoft was shot down by Britain’s market competition agency. Microsoft shares nevertheless ended the day up 7.24% as its strong earnings the day before overweighed the difficulties surrounding the Activision acquisition.

Equity markets in New York beyond the tech sector remained under pressure at the middle of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial lost 0.68% to end the day at 33,301.87 points and the S&P 500 dropped 0.38% to close at 4055.99 points.

Stock markets in Asia were mixed on Thursday as traders prepared for a policy decision announcement by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday. New BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda is expected to continue down the path of ultra-loose monetary policy set by his predecessor Haruhiko Kuroda. Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi were both trading down about 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.12% and the Hang Seng Tech index could not feed off the positive sector sentiment in the US, falling 1.16%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.3% and the Shenzhen Component was trading with slight gains.

Corporate news in focus: Q1 figures from Deutsche Bank, Schneider Electric, Sanofi, TotalEnergies, AstraZeneca, Barclays, Merck & Co, Amazon and Intel.

Economic data in focus: Swiss National Bank Q1 interim results (07:45 CET), US Q1 gross domestic product (14:30) and US initial unemployment claims (14:30).

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Publisher: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., Glärnischstrasse 36, CH-8027 Zurich
Editor: Alessandro Fezzi,
Source: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.

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