US stocks rebound back on Thursday

Upbeat earning from Facebook bolster the tech sector

U.S. stocks rebounded on Thursday, 30 January 2014 as investors welcomed data showing a robust pace of growth in the economy in the final quarter of last year, while upbeat earnings from Facebook boosted the tech sector. The upbeat start to the session was aided by overnight gains in index futures which rallied while the Japanese yen weakened.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day up 109 points, or 0.7%, at 15,848.61. The Nasdaq Composite was the best-performing index, gaining 71.69 points, or 1.8%, to 4,123.13. The S&P 500 closed 20 points, or 1.1% higher to 1,794.19.

Healthcare sector led the gains. Similar to health care, other heavily-weighted sectors like consumer discretionary, financials and technology ended ahead of the broader market.

Shares of Visa rallied 1.7% after reporting higher quarterly earnings and revenue than anticipated.

3M and Boeing on the Dowweighed. 3M lost 1.7% after reporting in-line earnings on below-consensus revenue while Boeing fell 2.5% after cautious guidance overshadowed its earnings beat. Exxon Mobil shares fell 1.2% after earnings disappointed.

Facebook shares surged 14.1% amid high volumes, after its quarterly results, announced after the market close on Wednesday, topped Wall Street's consensus. Other social media stocks benefited from Facebook's jump. Twitter shares rose 6.8%. LinkedIn Corp rose 4%.

Shares of Google rose 2.6% on Thursday, following the company's announcement that it will sell its Motorola Mobility phone-hardware unit to Lenovo Group.

Trading volume was below average as 641 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.

The HSBC China manufacturing final PMI reading for January came in at 49.5 versus 50.5 in December. This latest figure follows the weaker China PMI number posted last week, which is partly attributed to the emerging currencies market turmoil.

Today's economic data at Wall Street included initial claims, fourth quarter GDP, and the pending home sales report for December. Most notably, GDP increased 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the advance estimate. That was down from a 4.1% gain in the third quarter but slightly above the estimate of a 3.0% increase.

Weekly initial claims unexpectedly spiked to 348,000 from an upwardly revised 329,000 (from 326,000) while the consensus expected the claims level to fall to 325,000. Pending home sales for December tumbled 8.7%, which was worse than the 0.2% decrease forecast by the consensus. The reading followed last month's revised decrease of 0.3% (from +0.2%).

In other overnight news, European Union's Economic Sentiment Indicator report came in at 100.9 in January from 100.4 in December. This is the highest ESI reading in 2.5 years. This report continues a trend of upbeat EU economic data that suggests the bloc is on the road to economic recovery, albeit slowly.

Crude Oil futures climbed past $98 a barrel on Thursday, 30 January 2014 at Nymex to their highest close of this year, as investors cheered a reading on U.S. economic growth that bodes well for energy demand. March crude oil rose 87 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $98.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bullion prices ended lower on Thursday, 30 January 2014. Gold futures dropped on Thursday as a stronger US. dollar and a climb in equities lured investors away. News of a contraction in Chinese factory output in January also contributed to gold's losses.

Gold for April delivery, which is the most-active contract, fell $19.70, or 1.6%, to settle at $1,242.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, giving back the 0.9% gain it scored a day earlier. March silver lost 43 cents, or 2.2%, to $19.13 an ounce.

Tomorrow, December Personal Income, Personal Spending, Core PCE Prices, and the fourth quarter Employment Cost Index will all be released at 8:30 ET while the final reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Survey for January will be reported at 9:55 ET.

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