Tech Stocks On Track For Best Session In 5 Months Ahead Of Fed Meeting; Small Caps Target Highest Close Since January 2022: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

Author: Piero Cingari | July 31, 2024 01:23pm

Tech stocks soared to their best session in five months on Wednesday, ahead of the highly anticipated Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. This broad tech rally was propelled by a sharp rebound in chipmakers, buoyed by robust corporate earnings and easing concerns over chip export restrictions to China.

The Federal Reserve is expected to maintain interest rates at 5.25-5.50%, but market attention is fixed on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET, for any hints of a potential rate cut in September, which market participants have fully priced in.

The Nasdaq 100 surged 2.7%, with 87 of its constituents in positive territory, led by Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), which jumped 11%. The tech-heavy index hasn’t experienced such a rally since February 2024.

The Biden administration is planning to introduce new regulations next month to restrict the export of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Chinese chipmakers, with key allies like Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea being exempt, according to Reuters.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SOXX) soared over 5%, also marking its strongest session since late February 2024.

The S&P 500 also posted solid gains, rising 1.6%. Small caps, tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), increased by 1.1%, eyeing their highest close since January 2022. Blue chips climbed 0.7%.

The dollar eased 0.2%, weighed down by a disappointing July private employment report released earlier by the ADP. The Japanese yen, tracked by the Invesco CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (NYSE:FXE), rallied 1.4% following an overnight rate hike by the Bank of Japan.

In commodities, gold rose 0.7%, surpassing $2,400 per ounce, and silver climbed 1.4%. Oil prices surged 3% amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh by Israeli forces in Iran.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) edged up 0.3%.

Wednesday’s Movers In US Major Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Nasdaq 100	19,306.28	2.7%
S&P 500	5,523.20	1.6%
Russell 2000	2,267.02	1.1 %
Dow Jones	41,030.77	0.7%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 1.6% higher to $550.40.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.7% to $410.22.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) fell 2.6% to $469.60.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 1.1% to $224.09.
• Sector-wise, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) outperformed, rallying 3.4%, while the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) lagged, up 0.1%.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

Stocks moving on earnings were:

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), up 4%.
• Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), down 3.8%,
• Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) up over 9%,
• AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) up 8.2%,
• Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) up 1.5%,
• Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE:BLCO) up 0.4%,
• Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), up 5.1%,
• Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) up over 12%,
• DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DV) down about 1%,
• DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD) up 5.3%,
• First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) up 1.8%,
• Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ:FRSH) down 4.5%,
• Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) down 4.6%,
• GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) down 2.3%,
• Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) down 8.8%,
• KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) up 3.5%,
• Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) up 4.3%,
• Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) up 2.1%,
• Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) down 1%,
• Microsoft Corp. (NYSE:MSFT) (down over 2.50%)
• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) down 1.8%
• Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) down 2.8%,
• Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) down 3.1%,
• Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) down over 12%
• Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) up over 4%,
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE:TEVA) up over 8%,
• T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) up 2.5%,
• Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) down 1.5%.

Stocks reporting after the close include:

• Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)
• American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG)
• Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM)
• C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW)
• Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA)
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)
• Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETSY)
• Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)
• Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)
• Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
• MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM)
• NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR)
• QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)
• Teladoc Health, Inc. (NYSE:TDOC)
• Western Union Company (NYSE:WU).

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.

Posted In: $BTC AIG ALB AMD AN ANET ARM BA BLCO CHRW CVNA CZR DD DIA DV EBAY ETSY FRSH FSLR FXE