US markets end higher on Wednesday

03 Feb 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday, extending the strong upward move seen over the three previous sessions. The strength on markets partly reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings from some big-name companies like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL). Shares of Alphabet spiked by 7.5 percent after the tech giant reported fourth quarter result that exceeded street estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Alphabet also announced a 20-for-1 stock split, which has led to speculation the stock could be headed for inclusion in the Dow. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also showed a strong move to the upside after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance.

Traders were also reacting to a report from payroll processor ADP unexpectedly showing a sharp pullback in US private sector employment in the month of January. ADP said private sector employment plunged by 301,000 jobs in January after jumping by a downwardly revised 776,000 jobs in December. The steep drop surprised street, who had expected private sector employment to increase by 207,000 jobs compared to the spike of 807,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The labor market recovery took a step back at the start of 2022 due to the effect of the Omicron variant and its significant, though likely temporary, impact to job growth, said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 224.09 points or 0.63 percent to 35,629.33, Nasdaq jumped 71.54 points or 0.5 percent to 14,417.55 and S&P 500 was up by 42.84 points or 0.94 percent to 4,589.38. 


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