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Meta climbs on report of more layoffs
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Fidelity National slumps on payments business spinoff
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Indexes up: Dow 0.91%, S&P 1.00%, Nasdaq 1.46%
By Johann M Cherian Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. main stock indexes rose on Monday as investors piled into beaten-down megacap growth stocks with a decline in Treasury yields boosting sentiment, while Meta Platforms gained on reports the Facebook parent was planning fresh layoffs. Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc , Alphabet Inc and Microsoft Corp added between 0.1% and 3.6%, pushing the Russell 1000 growth sector up by 1.4% Driving gains in the megacap names were declining yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note , with Microsoft also boosted by a price target raise by Stifel, which said the tech-giant is clearly looking to upend Alphabet's Google Search dominance through its integration with ChatGPT. A fall in Treasury note yields indicate traders expect a greater return from investments in risky assets. "Tech type stocks are more sensitive to higher bond yields and higher rates because their earnings are discounted into the future," said Brian Klimke, investment director at Cetera Investment Management LLC. "In general we expect more volatility as we get more data this week and investors reconcile with what the Fed is thinking." Markets now await January inflation data on Tuesday and retail sales numbers later in the week to reassess their bets on the central bank's monetary policy path. All U.S. indexes clocked their worst decline last year since the financial crisis of 2008, led by a 33% slump in the tech-heavy Nasdaq , on fears the Federal Reserve would tip the economy into a recession with its hawkish monetary policy. While money markets are expecting rates to peak to 5.2% by July, a resilient labor market has lifted hopes of a milder-than-expected recession. Meanwhile, Meta rose 2.9% on reports over the weekend that the company was preparing to announce a fresh round of job cuts, pushing the consumer services sector 0.9% higher. At 12:38 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 307.19 points, or 0.91%, at 34,176.46, the S&P 500 was up 41.07 points, or 1.00%, at 4,131.53, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 170.62 points, or 1.46%, at 11,888.74. Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors climbed higher, with the energy sector's 0.3% fall making it the sole decliner as crude oil prices slipped on caution ahead of domestic inflation data. Fidelity National Information Services Inc plunged 13.6% following its decision to spin off its merchant payments business. TreeHouse Foods Inc dropped 2.7% on a disappointing annual sales forecast. As the earnings season draws to a close, 69% of the S&P 500 firms that have reported results thus far have beat profit expectations, as per Refinitiv on Friday. However, analysts expect fourth-quarter earnings to fall nearly 3% from a year earlier. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.96-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.77-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 50 new highs and 49 new lows. (Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel, Sriraj Kalluvila and Shinjini Ganguli)
