As investors assessed a slew of economic data ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, the Dow ended the day slightly higher, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.25% and 0.95%, respectively. Wall Street disregarded pessimistic predictions from some of the biggest technology firms in the world in order to drive stock prices higher on expectations of more gradual Federal Reserve rate increases as inflation begins to moderate.

US Fed FOMC meeting takes place on January 31 – February 1, with the rate hike decision to be announced on the first day of February.

The US Core PCE inflation rate, the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator, rose by 4.4% in December, which was its smallest annual gain since October 2021 and opened the door for lower Fed rises. Rising borrowing prices in December caused US personal spending to decline by 0.2% for the second consecutive month.

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For the week, the Dow increased by 1.6%, the S&P 500 increased by roughly 2%, and the Nasdaq 100 increased by 3.3%. The Nasdaq 100 with its fourth straight weekly gain had its best week since November because to the early-year tech revival, with Friday gains of at least 3% by Tesla Inc. and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. In the meantime, Tesla’s quarterly reports showed an 11% increase and a 31% weekly rise

The corporate sector saw gains from American Express and Visa of over 3% and 10.5%, respectively, while Intel and Silvergate Capital fell by 6.4% and 3.7%, respectively. Investors anticipate Meta’s earnings report on Wednesday and those of Apple, Google, and Amazon on Thursday of the following week.

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Heavy hitters Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Meta are scheduled to release their quarterly results the following week, and investors will learn whether market estimates are still overly optimistic as the economy slows.

The US non-farm payrolls report and central bank meetings in the US, UK, and Euro Area will take centre stage during next week. Inflation and GDP growth rates for important European economies including Germany, France, and Italy will also be monitored by investors. The latest PMI readings for the US, China, Canada, India, Australia, and South Korea will be interesting to watch.