The S&P 500 notched a fresh record high on Friday as quarterly results from technology companies including Facebook-parent Meta topped expectations and the January jobs report came in much better than expected.

The broad market index added 1.1% to close at 4,958.61, above its previous record close of 4,927.93 reached on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 134.58 points, or 0.4%, to 38,654.42, also a record close. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.7% to 15,628.95.

Shares of Meta popped more than 20% after the social-media giant's quarterly results topped analysts' expectations. The Facebook-parent also announced it will pay a quarterly dividend for the first time, and it authorized a $50 billion share buyback program. Amazon shares jumped 7.9% on a fourth-quarter earnings beat.

The rise in tech stocks helped shift investor focus from a scorching jobs report earlier on Friday that spiked interest rates. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield jumped a whopping 17 basis points to 4.02% after the government reported the U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, well above the Dow Jones estimate from economists of 185,000. (1 basis point equals 0.01%.)

"The price action today is a display that tech can decouple from the rates narrative and trade more on fundamentals," said Dylan Kremer, chief investment officer of Certuity. "You're in this window where tech can trade higher despite where rates are going, and that's catching people off guard."

The report also included inflationary data in the form of greater-than-expected wage growth. Wages expanded by 4.5% year over year, more than a 4.1% forecast. This report and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday likely pushes the chances of a rate cut back to May or the second half of the year.

But investors instead focused on the resiliency of the economy and how that would keep boosting profits.

For the week, the S&P 500 added 1.4%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1% and the Dow rose 1.4%. It was the fourth week in a row of gains for the major benchmarks after a stumble to start 2024.

Along with surging rates, the market shook off a tepid Apple quarter. The shares sat out the Friday rally and closed essentially flat after the iPhone juggernaut posted a 13% sales decline in China.

Stocks close higher, S&P 500 hits fresh record high

Stocks closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 reaching a fresh record high.

The broad market index added 1.1% to close at 4,958.61, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 134.58 points, or 0.4%, to 38,654.42. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.74% to finish the session at 15,628.95.

— Brian Evans

Regional bank slide stops on Friday

The steep selloff in regional bank stocks appears to have stabilized ahead of the weekend.

The SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) is up 0.4% on Friday, trimming its losses for the week to about 7.2%.

Shares of New York Community Bancorp bounced more than 4% on Friday, though the stock is still down more than 40% for the week.

Bank stocks fell sharply earlier this week after NYCB and Japanese bank Aozora said that commercial real estate loans were weighing on their earnings. Friday's positive moves come despite rising Treasury yields, which could exacerbate the issues facing commercial real estate.

– Jesse Pound

Communication services leads sector gains Friday

Meta shares popped more than 21% Friday, pulling the communication services sector up 4.5% to lead the S&P 500's gains.

Consumer discretionary was the next biggest winner, rising 2.5%. Amazon and Etsy shares were the top advancers, rising nearly 8% and 5%, respectively.

Meanwhile, real estate fell 1.6%, making it the worst-performing sector of the day.

Week to date, consumer discretionary is the biggest advancer, jumping 3.9%.

— Hakyung Kim

Stocks making the biggest moves midday

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Meta Platforms —The Facebook and Instagram parent soared 20% after reporting a threefold rise in fourth-quarter profit and declaring its first dividend, to be paid in late March. Revenue jumped 25% from a year earlier, the fastest rate of growth for any period since mid-2021.

Apple — The iPhone maker's shares inched down 0.3% after Apple provided financial guidance for the current quarter that hinted at weak iPhone sales. The company reported $2.18 in earnings per share in its fiscal first quarter ending in December, above the $2.10 expected by analysts according to LSEG, despite a sales decline in China.

Amazon — Shares of the dominant e-commerce platform jumped more than 7% on the back of an earnings and revenue beat in the fourth quarter. Amazon posted $1 in earnings per share on $169.96 billion in revenue, according to LSEG. Analysts had forecast 80 cents in earnings per share on $166.21 billion in revenue. 

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

Dow heads for winning week

With just hours left in Friday's trading session, the Dow is on track to finish the week with notable gains.

The blue-chip average has climbed more than 1% this week. If that holds through close, it will mark the fourth straight winning week and biggest weekly gain since December.

Merck and Caterpillar led the 30-stock index higher this week, with the pair jumping more than 5% and 4%, respectively. Visa and Amgen were the next biggest gainers for the week as each climbed more than 3%.

Those gains offset losses seen elsewhere. Notably, Apple and Cisco slid more than 3% each, while Nike, Intel and Honeywell have each shed more than 2% on the week.

— Alex Harring

Two-month consumer confidence gains the most since end of Gulf War 33 years ago

The two-month gain in consumer sentiment (17.7 points) in December and January just reported by the University of Michigan was the most since the two months ended in March 1991 (20.9 points), which came at the end of the Gulf War, where coalition forces defeated Iraq and restored Kuwaiti independence.

Consumer sentiment came in at 79 in January, the highest since July 2021 when sentiment ended at 81.2. Inflation expectations for the coming year were 2.9% in the latest survey, the lowest since Dec. 2020's reading of 2.5%.

The monthly Index of Consumer Sentiment is published in the Surveys of Consumers conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan.

— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francolla

Equities could oscillate in this 'late-cycle environment,' says Morgan Stanley Wealth Management CIO

High-quality growth stocks are the best places for investors to park their money this year as equity prices become choppy, according to investment strategists at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

"In our view, we remain in a late-cycle environment during which markets will oscillate between accelerating and decelerating growth narratives," said Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. "However, as noted, asset prices are materially higher than three months ago, thanks mainly to the Federal Reserve's transition from 'higher for longer' interest rates to 'we're done hiking and likely to be easing in 2024.'"

Morgan Stanley thinks the Fed will begin to taper quantitative tightening beginning this summer, Shalett said, adding that equity prices right now largely reflect that delayed expectation. She noted that quality growth stocks tend to outperform under current conditions, during which growth and inflation are slowing and the Fed is planning to lower interest rates.

"So far this year, the laggards of yesteryear are back to lagging and the winners are back to winning. When in doubt, it pays to go with the highest-probability winner. In this case, it's high-quality growth." Shalett wrote in an early February note.

— Pia Singh

S&P 500 opens little changed

The S&P 500 opened little changed on Friday following a stronger-than-expected jobs report which sent bond yields higher.

The broad market index ticked up 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 94 points, or 0.2%.

— Brian Evans

Chevron, Exxon beat earnings expectations but profit falls from year prior

Chevron and Exxon beat Wall Street's earnings expectations though the oil major's profits declined from the year prior as they faced impairment charges and lower oil prices.

Chevron's stock rose about 1% in premarket trading while Exxon was down 1.15%.

Chevron's fourth-quarter net income declined 65% to 2.3 billion compared to the same period in 2022. Profits fells as its U.S. oil and gas assets faced charges from regulatory issues in California and decommissioning costs from assets already sold in the Gulf of Mexico.

Still, Chevron's adjusted earnings came in at $3.45 per share, beating Street estimates of $3.21. And the company returned a record $26.3 billion to shareholders in 2023 through dividends and buybacks. Chevron raised its quarterly dividend by 8%.

Exxon reported net income of $7.63 billion, down 40% from the same quarter in 2022. The company was also hit by an impairment charge in California. Exxon's adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.48, beating the Street's estimate of $2.21.

Exxon returned $32.4 billion to shareholders in 2023.

Chevron expects production to grow 4% to 7% in 2024. Exxon is expecting net average production of 3.8 million barrels per day this year, compared to 3.73 million barrels per day in 2024.

Crude oil prices were volatile in 2023, with West Texas Intermediate and Brent falling more than 10% for the year on a weakening Chinese economy and a record oil production in the U.S.

— Spencer Kimball

The U.S. economy adds more jobs than expected

The U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, easily beating economist expectations. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a print of 185,000.

The report also included inflationary data in the form of greater-than-expected wage growth. Wages expanded by 4.5% year over year, more than a 4.1% forecast.

This comes after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled this week that a March rate cut was unlikely.

— Fred Imbert

Stocks making the biggest premaket moves

Here are some of the names moving in premarket trading:

• Meta — Shares popped 17% after the tech giant reported profits that tripled in the fourth quarter and issued its first-ever dividend payout postmarket Thursday. Earnings per share and revenue also topped expectations.
• Cigna — The health insurer gained 4.4% after posting an earnings and revenue beat for the fourth quarter and boosting its dividend by nearly 14%. Cinga also raised its full-year revenue outlook.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb — The pharma stock rose 1.4% after Bristol-Myers Squibb reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.70 on revenues of $11.48 billion, topping estimates of $1.53 on revenues of $11.19 billion, according to LSEG.

To read more premarket movers, read the full story here.

—Michelle Fox

Exxon earnings beat expectations

Exxon shares rose 2% after the oil giant posted better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.

The company earned an adjusted $2.48 per share, beating an LSEG estimate of $2.21 per share. That said, net income was down 40% to $7.63 billion year over year.

— Fred Imbert

Chevron fourth-quarter earnings fall year over year

Chevron reported a sharp year-over-year decline in fourth-quarter earnings, but the oil giant also returned a massive amount of money to shareholders via its dividend and buybacks.

The company earned an adjusted $3.45 per share on revenue of $47.18 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of $3.21 per share on revenue of $51.62 billion.

Chevron also said its net income fell 65% year over year to $2.3 billion. However, the company also said it returned $23.6 billion through dividend payouts and buybacks in 2023. Additionally, the energy name raised its quarterly dividend by 8% to $1.63 per share.

— Fred Imbert

European stocks open higher, led by autos

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.4% in early trade, with autos adding 1.6% to lead gains as most sectors and major bourses advanced. Oil and gas bucked the positive trend to fall 0.8%.

Australia producer prices climb at faster pace in fourth quarter

Australia's producer price index rose 4.1% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2023, accelerating from the 3.8% seen in the third quarter.

The increase also marked an end to four straight quarters of declining growth in the PPI. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the country's PPI grew 0.9%, lower than the third quarter's growth rate of 1.8%.

Australia's statistics bureau said producer prices saw "moderate rises across most industries," adding that "sustained growth in construction outputs is driving the rise."

Furthermore, high crude oil and energy prices in recent quarters are have impacted prices in other industries, the bureau added.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan's Aozora Bank sinks again on U.S. commercial property losses, hits 3-year low

Aozora Bank shares tumbled to their lowest in about three years for a second day, as investors again hammered the Japanese commercial lender for its warning of an annual loss stemming from its exposure to U.S. office loans.

Aozora plunged by as much as 18.5% to 2,080 yen in early Tokyo trading, sending its shares to their lowest levels since February 2021. This compares to the 0.5% gain on the Nikkei 225 benchmark.

The Tokyo-based commercial lender said Thursday it expects to post a net loss of 28 billion Japanese yen ($191 million) for the fiscal year ending March 31, a swing from its previous forecast for a net profit of 24 billion yen.

Please read the full story for more.

— Clement Tan

South Korea's January inflation slows for third straight month to 2.8%

South Korea's consumer price index rose 2.8% year on year, marking a third straight month of declines.

This was compared to the 3.2% recorded the previous month, and slightly lower than the 2.9% expected by a Reuters poll.

January's core inflation — which strips out prices of food and energy — rose 2.5%, at a slower rate than 2.8% in the previous month.

— Lim Hui Jie

Where the major averages stand for the year heading into February

Here's where the major averages stand for the year after the first day of trading in February:

• The S&P 500 is up 2.86%
• The Nasdaq Composite is up 2.33%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2.2%
• The Russell 2000 is down 2.6%

— Lisa Kailai Han

Where the major averages stand on the week

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are tracking for modest gains on the week.

The 30-stock Dow is up 1.08% as of Thursday's close, pacing for its best week since Dec. 15. Drivers behind the blue-chip index's gains include Merck and Amgen, both of which are up more than 4% for the week.

The S&P 500 is up 0.31% through Thursday and on pace for its fourth straight positive week.

The Nasdaq Composite is the laggard of the three, carrying a 0.61% decline on the week and tracking to end a three-week winning run.

-Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes

Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: Meta, Amazon, Apple and more

These are the stocks moving the most in extended trading hours:

• Meta — The technology stock soared more than 14% after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings of $5.33 per share on revenue of $40.11 billion.
• Amazon — Shares gained nearly 10% after the e-commerce giant reported fourth-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations.
• Apple — The tech titan slipped 3% despite a fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue beat.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

S&P 500 futures open higher

S&P 500 futures opened higher on Thursday evening.

Futures tied to the broader index rose 0.47%, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.87% higher. On the other hand, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were unchanged.

— Lisa Kailai Han