US stocks end higher, Meta jumps as investors look to midterm

(Reuters) – Wall Street ended sharply higher on Monday as investors focused on Tuesday’s midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, while shares of Meta Platforms jumped after a report of job cuts at parent company Facebook.

Republicans would prefer to win a majority in the House of Representatives in elections, with the Senate classified as neglected by nonpartisan forecasters. Republicans could use a majority in either chamber to block Democratic President Joe Biden’s agenda.

“The likelihood that the Republicans will take the House or the Senate is very high, thus ensuring some form of stalemate over the next two years. That will probably take taxes off the table, and any kind of massive spending is seen as inflationary,” said Ross Mayfield, an analyst. Bird’s investment strategy, “on the table.”

Meta Platforms Company (META.O) It jumped more than 6% after a report that the company was planning to begin large-scale layoffs this week. The stock is down more than 70% so far this year.

Microsoft shares that have been battered recently (MSFT.O) The Google Alphabet Alphabet (GOOGL.O) Each rose more than 2% and contributed significantly to the S&P 500’s gains during the session.

The focus this week will also be on US consumer price data for October, due on Thursday, looking for clues about how the US Federal Reserve’s rapid rate hike is helping to cool the economy.

Four Fed policymakers indicated on Friday that they would consider a smaller rate hike at their next policy meeting, despite new data showing another month of strong job gains and only small signs of progress in lowering inflation.

merchants divided On whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 50 basis points or 75 basis points at the US central bank meeting in December.

“All else being equal, whether the final interest rate is at 4.5%, 5% or more, monetary policy is expected to have a negative impact on the economy as we approach 2023,” Glenmede investment analysts wrote in a note on Monday.

Unofficially, the S&P 500 rose 0.96% to end the session at 3,806.90 points.

The Nasdaq rose 0.85% to 10564.52 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.31% to 32,827.00 points.

Among the 11 S&P 500 sector indices, eight rose, led by telecom services (.SPLRCL) which was up 1.83%, followed by a power gain of 1.73% (.SPNY).

All three major US indexes have fallen this year, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index (nineteenth) It fell 33% on concerns that monetary tightening could cripple the US economy.

Digital World Acquisition Company (DWAC.O) It rose 66 percent after former US President Donald Trump hinted at another attempt at the White House. White Checks Inc. has agreed to post the Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. on social media.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc (WBA.O) A 4.1% gain after VillageMD, the pharmacy chain-backed primary care provider, said it would acquire Summit Health in a deal valued at about $9 billion.

The number of advanced versions outnumbered the number of falling cases in the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) A ratio of 2.8 to one.

The S&P 500 recorded 18 new highs and 15 new lows; The Nasdaq recorded 93 new highs and 221 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was relatively light, with 10.5 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 11.8 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

Additional reporting by Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru, and Noel Randywich in Oakland, California. Additional reporting by Shriyashi Sanyal and Devik Jain. Editing by Majo Samuel, Chizuo Nomiyama and Deepa Babington

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