Benzinga·2026-01-23 07:49Market Sentiment - The CNN Money Fear and Greed index improved to a reading of 54.3, remaining in the "Neutral" zone, up from 52.3 [6] - U.S. stocks experienced a positive session, with the Dow Jones index gaining over 300 points amid easing geopolitical concerns [1] Company Performance - Meta Platforms Inc. saw a jump of more than 5% due to Jefferies highlighting an attractive valuation discount [2] - Procter & Gamble surged around 3% after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings [2] - General Aerospace experienced a decline of over 7% despite exceeding earnings estimates [2] Economic Data - U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 1,000 to 200,000 for the week ending Jan. 17 [3] - The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.4% in Q3, surpassing the preliminary estimate of 4.3% and marking the strongest growth since Q3 2023 [3] - The PCE price index increased by 0.2% month-over-month in November, consistent with the previous month and market estimates [3] Sector Performance - Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed positively, with communication services, consumer discretionary, and information technology stocks showing the largest gains [4] - Real estate and utilities stocks closed lower, bucking the overall market trend [4] - The Dow Jones closed at 49,384.01, up around 307 points, while the S&P 500 rose 0.55% to 6,913.35, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.91% to 23,436.02 [4] Upcoming Earnings - Investors are anticipating earnings results from Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., Webster Financial Corp., and Slb NV [5]