By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com – Wall Street bounced on Thursday, with tech stocks leading the way as investors put aside worries about a tough reading on economic growth.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) was leading the way in the sector, helping lift the NASDAQ Composite 3%. The social media company rose 18% after adding more users than expected in the quarter and beating low expectations.
The rally in tech comes after a big drop for the beginning of the year, with the tech portion of the S&P 500 down 16% year to date. Investors could be seeing a buying opportunity now, but the question remains how much rising interest rates will dent the sector. Rising rates tend to hurt growth stocks.
Thursday’s negative reading for GDP – it fell 1.4% in the first quarter against expectations for a 1.1% gain – will be followed Friday by a reading on personal income and personal spending, which could give analysts a reason to see growth ahead. Spending has been strong in the face of rising inflation.
Ed Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA, said the number is distorted because of the trade deficit. Exports couldn’t keep up with imports “which suggests the economy is still robust and that inventory investment will improve,” he said in a note.
Investors are eyeing two events next week: The next policy meeting of the Federal Reserve and the next meeting of the international oil producers cartel, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
With oil prices climbing again – Crude Oil WTI Futures is back over $105 a barrel – investors will also be watching Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have been discussing ways to cut the price of gasoline.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Exxon earnings
With crude oil trading above the $100 mark, energy companies Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) will report earnings Friday.
Analysts polled by Investing.com see Exxon Mobil posting earnings per share of $2.23 on revenue of $81.3 billion.
2. Chevron earnings
Meanwhile, they expect Chevron to report earnings of $3.43 per share, with revenue coming in at $50.65 billion.
3. Income and spending
U.S. personal spending and personal income data will be reported at 8:30 AM ET. Analysts tracked by Investing.com expect personal income for March to come in at 0.4%, below the previous 0.5% reading.
However, personal spending for March is forecast to be 0.7%, above the previous 0.2% reading.