During the week NASDAQ jumped over 1.5%, outperforming both S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones.(Image: REUTERS)
Wall Street investors saw the technology-heavy NASDAQ index surge higher during the previous week, shunning away inflation fears. During the week NASDAQ jumped over 1.5%, outperforming both S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones. Technology stocks seem to be returning as a favourable trade among investors even though the NASDAQ index is still near the all-time high and valuations might be rich. The most preferred trade among the tech stocks is also picking up pace with all but one of the FAANGM stocks closing with gains during the previous week. Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, and Microsoft are collectively called the FAANGM stocks.
Facebook’s share price gained a modest 0.28% during the week gone by to close at $331.26 per share. So far this year, the share price of Facebook has jumped 23%, this is over an above the 82% rally seen by the stock between March and December last year. During the week gone by Facebook announced that it will not charge a fee to content creators for at least the next two years amid the pandemic. Additionally, the social media behemoth also said it expects to open all offices by October this year.
The share price of Apple soared 1.16% during the week, to close at $127.35 apiece. After having seen the stock tank over 18% between the last week of January and the first week of March, the stock is down in the negative year-to-date. However, the scrip is still up 122% since the March 2020 market fall. During the week, apple hosted the WWDC and announced new features for its devices, including the launch of facetime on Android and windows.
Jeff Bezos’ Amazon was one of the best performers, surging 4.39% higher during the week to close at $3,346 per share. So far this year, Amazon is up 5%. During the week the company announced that will raise the minimum pay in Germany to 12 Euros per hour. Additionally in Europe, the company won the television right to broadcast some Ligue 1 games, which sparked some controversy as Canal+, the other broadcaster walked away.
Netflix has fallen out of favour with the other big internet companies and fellow FAANGM constituents. The stock ended the week 1.21% lower at $488.77 per share. So far this year the OTT platform has seen its stock fall 6.52%, remaining under pressure since the middle of January. Meanwhile, Alphabet’s Google closed the week 1.53% higher at $2,430 per share. The stock is up 40% so far this year. The last of the FAANGM constituents, Microsoft soared 2.83% during the week. The stock closed at $257.89 per share. The software behemoth has jumped more than 18% so far this year.
In the present week, Wall Street investors are likely to eye the US Federal Reserve Monetary Policy meeting. Rising inflation as sparked fear in some pockets of the market that spike in inflation might force the Fed to change its dovish stance sooner than expected. Meme stocks might also continue to grab attention.