Good afternoon.
Markets rally, earnings season kicks into high gear, and the Nasdaq is having its best start to a year since 2001.
Let's dive in.
Markets
Here are today's market moves:
What Happened?
U.S. stocks climbed on Thursday as investors digested tech earnings and Q4 economic data.
The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized pace of 2.9% in the fourth quarter. This was better than expected, helping push stocks higher.
2023 tech rally. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 10% in 2023, its best start to a year since 2001:
The crypto market was flat on Thursday, with Bitcoin trading near $23k. Bitcoin is up 37% in 2023, its best month since December 2020.
Catch Up
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its policy meeting next week.
Tesla shares climbed 11% on Thursday after the company beat Q4 earnings estimates.
Tech layoffs. So far in 2023, big tech companies such as Microsoft and Google have laid off a total of 60,000 employees.
