U.S. stocks are mixed, but tech tries to stage a Netflix-fueled rally

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed, but the technology sector was trying to stage a rally amid a wave of cost-cutting as firms brace for a slowdown.

At 10:23 ET (14:43 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 16 points or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.5% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 1%.

Google parent Alphabet Inc. Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG) was the latest tech giant to join the cost-cutting crowd, announcing plans to eliminate 12,000 jobs, tracking the thousands of layoffs recently announced by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares rose 5.3%.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is also helping lift markets by blowing away expectations for subscriptions in the fourth quarter. The streaming giant said it added 7.66 million net paid subscribers, up from the 4.5M it had forecast. Shares rose 6.9%.

Stocks have stumbled in the last three sessions on rising worries about a recession ahead as the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates to calm inflation. The major indexes are on pace for their first negative week this year.

Fed officials are aiming to push rates above 5%, which means they aren't done yet. Investors have been hoping that at some point it would be able to pause rate hikes or even start cutting.

The market is expecting the Fed to raise rates by another quarter of a percentage point when it makes its next decision in February. Today, investors will hear from two more Fed officials, including Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Fed Governor Christopher Waller.

Existing home sales fell 1.5% in December from the prior month, and sales reached 4.02M on an annualized basis beating expectations on both measures. Home sales have fallen for 11 months amid a broad slowdown in the sector.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 0.2% to $80.43 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude was down 0.1% to $86.05 a barrel. Gold Futures was up 0.3% at $1930.