Shares rose on Friday as investors digested a pairing between two of America’s biggest automakers and braced for the Federal Reserve’s next move on rate hikes.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.12% while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.16% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added 0.13% or 44 points.
The Nasdaq has risen for seven straight weeks while the S&P 500 is at its highest levels since August 2022.
The S&P 500 ended Thursday’s trading sessions up more than 20% from its October 2022 lows, officially marking the start of a bull market. The stock market rally to start 2023 comes as strong economic data continues to trump ongoing recession fears.
“I believe the worst is behind us,” Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Capital Markets, who recently raised his S&P year-end price target from 4,300 to 4,550, told Yahoo. Finance Live. “The Fed, maybe, has another interest rate hike by the end of the year, and that’s OK, but I think most of that has already been priced into the market.”
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) and General Motors (GM) both traded higher at the market open after GM announced on Thursday that it is partnering with Tesla to take advantage of the world’s supercharging network. electric vehicle manufacturer. The announcement comes two weeks after Ford (F) announced a similar partnership with Tesla to allow Ford vehicles access to Tesla’s charging network.
“This collaboration is a key part of our strategy and an important next step in rapidly expanding access to fast chargers for our customers,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a press release.
Tesla shares rose 4% on the news, extending an 11-day rally. The recent surge in Tesla shares is tied for the most consecutive days of gains on record.
Shares of Docusign (DOCU) turned negative as the company beat analysts’ estimates for revenue and earnings per share in the latest quarter. Several Wall Street analysts reiterated the stock’s sell ratings.
“DocuSign attributed the outperformance to the renewal schedule, only moved part of the pace from the first quarter to the full-year guide, and appeared gloomy about the state of the demand backdrop,” wrote l. UBS analyst Karl Keirstead in a note to clients after the earnings release. .
Meanwhile, Netflix (NFLX) stock gained 2.6% on Friday after new data from analytics platform Antenna showed U.S. signups for the streaming service rose the most. in at least four and a half years since the launch of the streamer’s password-sharing crackdown last month.
On the economic front, Friday promises to be calm. Markets predicting the Fed’s next move are currently pricing in a 78% chance that the Federal Reserve will suspend its interest rate hike cycle at its meeting next week.
“The FOMC should take a break at its June meeting next week to clear up the vagueness before considering another rate hike,” wrote a team of Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius in a note to clients. Thursday evening.
The economists added: “Fed leadership has signaled that it views the pause as the prudent course, as uncertainty about both the lagged effects of the rate hikes it has already delivered and the impact of ‘a crunch in bank credit increases the risk of an accidental over-tightening.’
Josh is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.
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