Stocks have rounded off the week with gains, and it is the tech sector that has seen the strongest gains, in a change to the norm for the year so far, says Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
Tech stocks lead the way higher
“A faint echo of the post-pandemic glory days for tech stocks was heard this afternoon, as the Nasdaq 100 led the way higher for indices following well-received earnings from Netflix and job cuts at Google. This is a notable contrast to the recent past, where tech has usually been the leader in any downward move. But it is unlikely to be the beginning of a renaissance for the sector just yet, there is still too much to worry about for investors, and even the relative cheapness of the sector versus the halcyon days of pre-2020 have yet to provide a real attraction.”
Layoffs risk pushing the US towards recession
“Pre-earnings redundancies seem to be the fashion in the US right now, and have been received in positive fashion by markets keen to see signs of cost-cutting among companies. But it is a tricky tightrope to walk – a wave (or waves) of layoffs will hurt consumer confidence and spending, coming at a time when inflation and higher rates have already hit consumers’ wallets and boosting the chance of a more severe recession.”