Stock Market Today: Dow in Big Move as Meta Leads Tech Rally Ahead of Midterms

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The Dow racked up gains Monday as a Meta-led surge spurred a rebound in tech stocks following a rout last week just as the U.S. midterm elections are set to take center stage.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.31%, or 423 points, and Nasdaq was up 0.85%, and the S&P 500 rose 1.00%.

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) jumped more than 6% to lead big tech higher as the social media giant is reportedly eyeing mass layoffs that could be announced this week, easing investor worries about spiraling costs amid the firm’s plan to keep investing into virtual and augmented reality amid a push into the metaverse.

A more than 2% climb in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also supported sentiment on tech, while Apple cut losses to end positive despite warning on lower iPhone production.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) temporarily halted iPhone 14 production blaming Covid-19 restrictions in China. The news triggered worries about iPhone demand, but some analysts pushed back, saying that demand remained strong.

“While not the news any bull wants to hear from Apple, it's a supply issue and related to China's zero Covid policy which is a very frustrating situation for Apple (and its investors) yet again but not demand driven,” Wedbush said in a note.

The U.S. midterm elections, which kick off on Tuesday, are also garnering investor attention amid bets that Republicans could garner enough votes to return to the House, which would stifle President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.

“If Republicans have a good showing, as has been expected, we see it as a modest positive for stocks if the return of Republican control is limited to the House and a bigger positive if Republicans take back control of both chambers,” RBC said in a note.

Energy also played a role in the broader market climb even as oil prices struggled amid mixed signals about whether China is set to ease its strict COVID-19 restrictions.

EQT (NYSE:EQT), Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR), and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) led the gains in the energy sector.

The earnings front offered a mixed outlook on corporate America. Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) reported mixed third-quarter results as earnings missed, but revenue beat expected, sending its shares down 11%.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) ended the day more 1% higher after reporting that profit rose by a fifth, led by strength in its insurance holdings. The conglomerate also upsized its share buyback program and raised its dividend.

In other news, the rout in Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) continued falling more than 15% following the used-car seller’s quarterly earnings miss last week that led to negative reaction from Wall Street.