The Nasdaq Is Up More than 1% As Investors Flock to Battered Technology Stocks

On Monday, stocks rose, led by technology, as traders increased their bets that inflation may be slowing.

The Nasdaq Composite gained the most, 1.3%, boosted by an 8% increase in Tesla stock. The S&P 500 gained 0.5%.

Defence-oriented pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Johnson & Johnson weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which added only 12 points and is now close to its flatline.

The Dow and S&P 500 both had their best weeks since November during the winning shortened week for the three major indices.

A sizeable portion of those gains happened on Friday when the Dow increased by 700 points, the S&P 500 increased by 2.3%, and the Nasdaq increased by 2.6%. 

USDCHF Tumbles as Swiss National Bank Posts Record Loss

The Swiss National Bank posted their biggest loss in their 116-year history, sending the CHF tumbling.

On Monday, the bank reported a loss of $143 billion for the 2022 financial year, which is the equivalent of almost 20% of the country’s GDP.

Last year’s losses were mostly attributed to foreign currency positions, which came as the CHF traded above 1 euro for the first time since 2015.

As a result of the strong Franc, Switzerland, which is heavily dependent on exports, had seen demand for goods fall, due to inflation.

USDCHF hit a low of 0.9167, which is its weakest point since last March.

Oil Price Rebounds as China Ends Its Zero-Covid Policy

Oil prices rebounded to start the week, as markets responded positively to the end of China’s zero-policy.

Lockdown restrictions in China have now been eased, with the country's borders once again open.

As a result of this, demand for crude is expected to increase by over 20% in the coming months.

It is also anticipated that there will be over 70 billion trips in the coming months, as a result of the Chinese New Year celebrations.

WTI rose to a peak of $76.74 per barrel.

"I believe in analysis and not forecasting."

Nicolas Darvas