The coming week will feature reports in the software industry from AppLovin and Datadog. Results are also due from high-profile companies including Coca-Cola , Cisco Systems and McDonald’s as fourth-quarter earnings season winds down.
While the Federal Reserve cited stabilization in the jobs market as it held interest rates steady last month, a survey on Thursday showed layoffs announced by U.S. employers surged in January.
Meanwhile, inflation remains “somewhat elevated” in the view of the Fed, with the January consumer price index due on Friday offering the latest insight into such trends. With the Fed describing diminished risks to both inflation and employment, markets are expecting the central bank to hold off on further interest rate cuts until its June meeting. By that point, President Donald Trump’s newly nominated Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, could be in charge.
After the central bank cut rates at the end of last year, Fed fund futures have continued to price in roughly two further quarter-percentage-point cuts by December, expectations that generally held in the wake of the announcement of Warsh’s nomination late last month.
On Friday, S&P 500 rose 133.90 points, or 2 per cent, to 6,932.30. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,206.95 points, or 2.5 per cent, to 50,115.67. Nasdaq composite rose 490.63 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 23,031.21. Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 92.69 points, or 3.6 per cent, to 2,670.34.
For the year, S&P 500 is up 86.80 points, or 1.3 per cent. Dow Jones is up 2,052.38 points, or 4.3 per cent. Nasdaq is down 210.78 points, or 0.9 per cent. Russell 2000 is up 188.43 points, or 7.6 per cent.