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Stock Market News for Feb 14, 2023

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Wall Street closed sharply higher on Monday as investors awaited key inflation data, which is likely to give a fair idea of the stance the Fed will adopt for future interest rate hikes. Also, Treasury yields slipped on Tuesday that sent tech stocks on a rally. All three major indexes ended in positive territory.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) climbed 1.1% or 376.66 points to end at 34,245.93 points.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1% or 46.83 points to finish at 4,137.29 points. Tech and consumer discretionary stocks were the biggest gainers.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) gained 1.7%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) and Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) rose 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively. Ten of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.5% or 173.66 points to end at 11,891.78 points.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.93% to 20.34. A total of 9.5 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 11.9 billion.

Investors Await Key Inflation Data

U.S. stocks rallied on Monday with the Nasdaq and S&P bouncing back from their last week’s lows. However, stocks are still solidly up this year. On Monday, tech stocks led the rally, with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) leading the Dow gains. Shares of Microsoft gained 3.1%.

This week’s focus will first be on the key Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which will be out on Tuesday. The CP data is likely to give a clearer picture of how the Fed will go ahead with its future rate hikes in its fight to tame inflation.

Investors are optimistic about a solid CPI print on Tuesday given that inflation has lately shown signs of easing. They now believe that a solid CPI print can halt or pivot Fed’s interest rate hikes sooner than expected. On the other hand, an unimpressive CPI reading could also signal more frequent rate hikes in the coming months, which will put pressure on equities.

However, investors were more optimistic about the CPI reading falling further, which sent stocks on a rally. Tech stocks were the big gainers. Shares of Netflix, Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) rose 3.2%, while Salesforce, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) rallied 2.4%. Netflix has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The earnings season is also coming to a close, with the last major batch of companies scheduled to report this week. Investors will also be closely watching the last phase of quarterly reports to be released alongside the Producer Price Index (PPI) data that will be released on Thursday.

No economic data was released on Monday.


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