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Stock Market News for Feb 1, 2022

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Wall Street closed sharply higher on Monday to end a topsy-turvy January. Beaten down stocks of technology behemoths reversed some of their losses in the last two trading sessions. All three major stock indexes finished in green. For the month as a whole, these indexes tumbled significantly.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) surged 1.2% or 406.39 points to close at 35,131.86. The blue-chip index closed above the crucial 35,000  for the first time since Jan 19. Notably, 23 components of the 30-stock index ended in green while 7 in red.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 14,239.88, jumping 3.4% or 470 points due to strong performance by large-cap technology stocks. The tech-laden index closed above the psychological barrier 14,000 for the first time since Jan 20.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 climbed 1.9% to end at 4,515.55. The broad-market index closed above the technical barrier 4,500 for the first time since Jan 19. All eleven sectors of the benchmark index closed in positive territory.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU), the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) rallied 2.5%, 1.9% 2.3% and 3.9%, respectively.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 10.2% to 24.83. A total of 12.67 billion shares were traded on Monday, higher than the last 20-session average of 12.37 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.54-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.32-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.

Technology Leads Market’s Rebound

The technology sector is the worst sufferer in January. U.S. stock markets routed in January with the Fed raising the tapering of the quantitative easing program and Chairman Jerome Powell’s indication that the central bank will not hesitate to take harsh measures to contain inflation.

Several economists and financial experts have said that markets have already discounted four rate hikes this year of 25 basis points each. However, many market participants have expressed fear that the Fed may raise the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points that too as early as in March.

A higher market interest rate is detrimental to growth sectors like technology. Consequently, the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), one of the 11 broad sector-specific ETF of the S&P 500 Index has plummeted 10.1% in January. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has plunged 9% year to date.

However, the rebound of Wall Street in the last two trading sessions of the month was also driven by the technology sector. On Jan 31, shares of technology behemoth like Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) , Meta Platform Inc. and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) gained 2.6%, 3.8% and 1.5%, respectively. All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Monthly Roundup

Wall Street has ended a highly disappointing January. The Dow fell 3.3%, marking its worst monthly performance since November. The S&P 500 tumbled 5.3%, registering its worst monthly performance since March 2020 and worst January since 2009. The Nasdaq Composite plummeted 8.9%, recording its worst monthly performance since March 2020 and worst January since 2009.

The Nasdaq Composite is currently under  correction zone for the first time since Mar 8, 2021. At present, the index is more than 12% below its all-time high. The S&P 500 briefly entered in correction territory this month and is currently 6.3% away from its all-time high. The Dow is currently trading at 4.9% below its all-time high.


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