Stocks Settle Higher on Strength in Tech

Earnings Overview - More than half of the S&P 500 companies have reported Q4 earnings, with 79% of the 297 companies beating expectations [1] - S&P earnings growth is projected to increase by +8.4% in Q4, marking the tenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth [1] - Excluding the Magnificent Seven technology stocks, Q4 earnings are expected to rise by +4.6% [1] Market Focus - The upcoming week will focus on corporate earnings results and economic news, including the Q4 employment cost index expected to rise by 0.8% [2] - January retail sales are anticipated to increase by +0.4% month-over-month, with similar expectations for sales excluding autos [2] - January nonfarm payrolls are expected to rise by +69,000, while the unemployment rate is projected to remain at 4.4% [2] Stock Market Movements - Stock indexes initially fell but recovered, with the Dow Jones Industrials reaching a new all-time high [5] - The S&P 500 Index closed up +0.47%, the Dow Jones up +0.04%, and the Nasdaq 100 up +0.77% [5] - Chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks rebounded, contributing to the market's recovery [5][11] Sector Performance - Mining stocks surged after gold prices increased by +2% and silver prices jumped by more than +6% [12] - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Broadcom (AVGO) saw gains of more than +3%, while Nvidia (NVDA) and others also performed well [11] - Oracle (ORCL) rose by more than +9% following an upgrade, while Dynatrace (DT) reported better-than-expected Q3 revenue and raised its full-year forecast [13][14] Notable Declines - Kyndryl Holdings (KD) fell more than -55% after reporting Q3 revenue below expectations and cutting its profit forecast [16] - Monday.com (MNDY) dropped more than -21% due to a revenue forecast below consensus [16] - Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) and Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) also experienced significant declines following disappointing earnings reports [16]