US Nasdaq gains more than 3%

The US stock market finished volatile session with mixed note on Thursday, 02 February 2023, with the Dow Jones closing edge below neutral line on weak outlook from the pharmaceutical firm Merck, while the S&P 500 surged nearly 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite ended the day higher by more than 3% as better-than-expected Meta results improved sentiment around technology and communication shares.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 39.02 points, or 0.11%, to 34,053.94. The S&P500 index was up 60.55 points, or 1.47%, to 4,179.76. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 384.50 points, or 3.25%, to 12,200.82.

Total 7 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P500 Index. Communication services was top performing sector, adding 6.74% followed by consumer discretionary (up 3.08%), information technology (up 2.78%), and real estate (up 2.23%) sectors.

Shares of technology and communication companies advanced, with Meta leading rally, up 23%, after reporting a fourth-quarter beat on revenue and announcing a $40 billion stock buyback. Alphabet were up nearly 7.3%, while Amazon jumped about 7.4%. Apple shares gained 3.7%.

Healthcare and medical insurance stocks tumbled after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shared early plans for lower-than-expected rates for Medicare Advantage plans in 2024. UnitedHealth and Humana shares dropped more than 5% each on the news. Cigna and Elevance Health shares were last down about 4% each. CVS Health dipped 1.7%. Merck shares declined after the pharmaceutical firm issued a weak outlook in its latest earnings results.

Among Indian ADR, ICICI Bank inclined 4% to $20.93, INFOSYS was up 2.6% at $19.51, WNS Holdings inclined 3.4% to $88.93, Wipro added 3.5% to $5.09, and HDFC Bank was up 3.7% at $67.10. Azure Power Global fell 1% to $4.13,and Dr Reddy's labs fell 0.1% to $53.83.

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