NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) US technology stocks hit record highs on expectations of strong quarterly earnings at companies that benefited from providing stay-home services and products amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The technology-laden Nasdaq index, which counts on the performance of industry giants such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, was the outperformer among US equity markets, hitting a record high of 13,729 on Monday before settling at 13,636, up 0.7 percent on the day.
Tech stocks rallied ahead of a widely-anticipated week of positive fourth-quarter earnings. microsoft reports on Tuesday after the closing bell, while Apple, Facebook and Tesla are due on Wednesday.
The S&P 500, a barometer for the top 500 US stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, settled at 3,856, up 0.4 percent. It came just a point short of matching Thursday's record high of 3,861.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Wall Street's broadest stocks gauge, fell 0.1 percent to finish at 30,960.
The Dow fell investors lose some of their appetite for industrial stocks amid concerns over the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Energy was the biggest industrial sector in the red on Monday, weighed down by weaker oil prices amid ongoing worries over pandemic-fueled weakness in crude.
