Big Tech surges as reports impress in coronavirus downturn

Shares of Apple , Amazon and Facebook surged in extended trading on Thursday, with Alphabet also climbing, as quarterly reports from the Big Tech quartet added fuel to Wall Street’s four-month rally.

With the four companies reporting on the same day for the first time ever, Apple, Amazon and Facebook each jumped 5% or more. Alphabet traded up about 0.5%.

Together, the four account for nearly a fifth of the S&P 500’s stock market value. Index funds tracking the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.8% and 1.6%, respectively, suggesting traders expect Wall Street to open sharply higher on Friday.

Deemed “stay-at-home” winners as millions of Americans were ordered indoors to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, shares of the largest U.S. technology companies have hit record highs in recent months at a time when the benchmark S&P 500 is up less than 1% on the year and the coronavirus pandemic has thrown the economy into its steepest contraction since the Great Depression.


Source: Reuters