As dip-buying in damaged technology equities resumed on Wednesday, US markets notched their largest four-day gain since November 2020.
The S&P 500 rose 0.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%, led by Alphabet and advanced Micro devices inc. Brent crude regained losses after OPEC+ agreed to another increase in output. Treasury yields fell, and the dollar fell.
It's been a turbulent start to the year, with investors swinging between anxiety about Fed tightening and optimism about the economy's rebound. A strong profits forecast is helping to alleviate the uncertainty, at least for the time being. However, several threats, such as persistent inflation, geopolitical hazards, and pandemic outbreaks, remain in the background.
The new Fed statement indicated at a measured strategy to raise interest rates to combat high inflation, assuaging concerns that tighter monetary policy would harm the economy. None of the six Fed members who have spoken this week have backed a half-point rate hike in March, and the most aggressive, Fed's Bullard said five hikes — one more than every quarter — is "not a bad guess."
Prior to Friday's jobs report, ADP data showed that employment at US. companies fell by the greatest since the early days of the pandemic with the spike in omicron infections. Poor employment growth may force the Fed to reconsider aggressive rate hikes. However, a drop in employment is not unexpected, with government authorities recently warning of the likelihood.
