The US stock market futures rose on Friday, as investors awaited the release of the November jobs report. Four tech giants, namely Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google, led the market move into buy zones, as they reached new record highs.
Apple (AAPL) shares broke out of a cup-with-handle base with a buy point of 157.18 on Thursday, as the iPhone maker announced its self-service repair program for customers. The stock closed at 161.89, up 3.1% for the day and 3% above the buy point. Apple has a market capitalization of over $2.6 trillion, making it the most valuable company in the world.
Apple has been benefiting from strong demand for its products and services, especially the iPhone 13, which was launched in September. The company reported a 29% year-over-year increase in revenue to $83.4 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, beating analysts’ estimates. The company also raised its dividend by 7% and authorized a $90 billion share repurchase program.
Microsoft Clears Buy Point After Cloud Deal with Meta
Microsoft (MSFT) shares cleared a buy point of 349.10 on Thursday, after the software giant announced a cloud deal with Meta Platforms (FB), formerly known as Facebook. The stock closed at 351.40, up 1.8% for the day and 0.7% above the buy point. Microsoft has a market capitalization of over $2.6 trillion, making it the second most valuable company in the world.
Microsoft and Meta agreed to collaborate on cloud computing and artificial intelligence, as Meta aims to build the metaverse, a virtual reality platform that connects people, places and things. The deal is expected to boost Microsoft’s Azure cloud business, which grew 50% year-over-year in the fiscal first quarter. Microsoft also reported a 22% year-over-year increase in revenue to $45.3 billion in the quarter, beating analysts’ estimates.
Amazon Rebounds from 200-Day Line After AWS Split
Amazon (AMZN) shares rebounded from their 200-day moving average line on Thursday, after the e-commerce giant announced the split of its Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit into two separate businesses. The stock closed at 3,691.61, up 3.9% for the day and 5.4% above the 200-day line. Amazon has a market capitalization of over $1.8 trillion, making it the third most valuable company in the world.
Amazon said it will create two new reporting segments for AWS, namely AWS Infrastructure and AWS Services, starting from the first quarter of 2024. The move is intended to provide more transparency and accountability for the cloud computing unit, which generated $16.1 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up 39% year-over-year. Amazon also reported a 15% year-over-year increase in revenue to $110.8 billion in the quarter, missing analysts’ estimates.
Google Hits New High After Antitrust Settlement
Google (GOOGL) shares hit a new high of 3,018.77 on Thursday, after the search engine giant reached a settlement with a group of state attorneys general over antitrust allegations. The stock closed at 3,011.87, up 2.4% for the day and 6.6% above a buy point of 2,825.30. Google has a market capitalization of over $2 trillion, making it the fourth most valuable company in the world.
Google agreed to pay $125 million and make some changes to its online advertising business, such as providing more information and choices to advertisers and publishers. The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by 15 states and the District of Columbia in December 2020, accusing Google of abusing its dominance in the digital ad market. Google also reported a 41% year-over-year increase in revenue to $65.1 billion in the third quarter, beating analysts’ estimates.
Jobs Report Expected to Show Strong Hiring in November
The US Labor Department will release the November jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, which is expected to show strong hiring amid the economic recovery from the pandemic. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the report to show that the US economy added 573,000 nonfarm payrolls in November, up from 531,000 in October. The unemployment rate is expected to drop to 4.5% from 4.6%.
The jobs report is a key indicator of the health of the labor market and the economy, and could influence the Federal Reserve’s decision on tapering its bond-buying program and raising interest rates. The Fed announced in November that it will start reducing its monthly asset purchases by $15 billion, from $120 billion to $105 billion, starting from December. The Fed also signaled that it could raise interest rates as soon as next year, depending on the inflation and employment data.