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The Dow surged nearly 300 points on Wednesday, driven by gains in Salesforce and other tech stocks. In the afternoon, the Dow climbed 272 points or 0.6%. The S&P 500 added 0.5%, while the Nasdaq rose by 1.1%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached fresh record highs, signaling continued optimism in the equity markets.
Moreover, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in the afternoon that the Fed can proceed “cautiously” while reducing interest rates. The central bank’s next meeting to discuss rate cuts is scheduled for December 17-18.
In economic news, a report from ADP revealed that private payroll growth in November was weaker than expected, highlighting a cooling labor market. U.S. companies added 146,000 jobs during the month, falling short of the downwardly revised 184,000 jobs added in October and missing the estimate of 163,000. The softer labor data has fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve might consider a rate cut to support economic growth.
Salesforce stock jumps 8.5% on strong earnings
Shares of Salesforce (CRM-1.76% reached a new 52-week high today as it posted better-than-expected earnings. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.41 on an adjusted basis, falling slightly short of the $2.44 analysts had anticipated. However, revenue came in at $9.44 billion, surpassing the $9.34 billion expected.
Other stocks moving the market
Shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL-7.26% and Okta (OKTA-0.05% also gained after posting the earnings. However, Chewy (CHWY-4.08%lost stock price after releasing the earnings report. Microsoft (MSFT-1.47%) and Amazon (AMZN-3.97%) shares both gained nearly 2%.
Bitcoin is moving in the upward direction
After a brief pause, Bitcoin regained momentum on Wednesday morning as investors shifted their focus to Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). According to Farside, Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $676 million on December 3, highlighting renewed investor interest in the cryptocurrency market.