news/GOOGL/2023.02.13/US STOCKS-Wall St climbs higher on lift from battered growth stocks.txt

(Corrects time to p.m. from a.m. in paragraph 11)*Meta climbs on report of more layoffs*Fidelity National slumps on payments business spinoff*Indexes up: Dow 0.91%, S&P 1.00%, Nasdaq 1.46%Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. main stock indexes rose on
Monday as investors piled into beaten-down megacap growth stocks
with a decline in Treasury yields boosting sentiment, while Meta
Platforms gained on reports the Facebook parent was planning
fresh layoffs.Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc
and Microsoft Corp added between 0.1% and
3.6%, pushing the Russell 1000 growth sector up by 1.4%Driving gains in the megacap names were declining yields on
the U.S. 10-year Treasury note, with Microsoft also
boosted by a price target raise by Stifel, which said the
tech-giant is clearly looking to upend Alphabet's Google Search
dominance through its integration with ChatGPT.A fall in Treasury note yields indicate traders expect a
greater return from investments in risky assets."Tech type stocks are more sensitive to higher bond yields
and higher rates because their earnings are discounted into the
future," said Brian Klimke, investment director at Cetera
Investment Management LLC."In general we expect more volatility as we get more data
this week and investors reconcile with what the Fed is
thinking."Markets now await January inflation data on Tuesday and
retail sales numbers later in the week to reassess their bets on
the central bank's monetary policy path.All U.S. indexes clocked their worst decline last year since
the financial crisis of 2008, led by a 33% slump in the
tech-heavy Nasdaq, on fears the Federal Reserve would
tip the economy into a recession with its hawkish monetary
policy.While money markets are expecting rates to peak to 5.2% by
July, a resilient labor market has lifted hopes of a
milder-than-expected recession.Meanwhile, Meta rose 2.9% on reports over the
weekend that the company was preparing to announce a fresh round
of job cuts, pushing the consumer services sector 0.9%
higher.At 12:38 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
was up 307.19 points, or 0.91%, at 34,176.46, the S&P 500
was up 41.07 points, or 1.00%, at 4,131.53, and the Nasdaq
Composite was up 170.62 points, or 1.46%, at 11,888.74.Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors climbed higher, with the
energy sector's 0.3% fall making it the sole decliner as
crude oil prices slipped on caution ahead of domestic inflation
data.Fidelity National Information Services Inc plunged
13.6% following its decision to spin off its merchant payments
business.TreeHouse Foods Inc dropped 2.7% on a disappointing
annual sales forecast.As the earnings season draws to a close, 69% of the S&P 500
firms that have reported results thus far have beat profit
expectations, as per Refinitiv on Friday. However, analysts
expect fourth-quarter earnings to fall nearly 3% from a year
earlier.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.96-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.77-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and no new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 50 new highs and 49 new lows.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju
Samuel, Sriraj Kalluvila and Shinjini Ganguli)