U.S. stocks rallied for a third day as traders anticipate the Federal Reserve’s tightening cycle may be nearing its peak. 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 was boosted by Meta Platforms Inc.’s biggest surge since 2013, fueled by the company’s earnings and upbeat outlook. The index narrowly averted stepping into a bull market form its December low as it pared some of its gains in the afternoon. The S&P 500 closed up more than 1 per cent. Both indexes rallied the most in the last three sessions since November. 

Treasuries pared earlier gains, with the 10-year yield around 3.40 per cent. A dollar index rose the most in nearly a month. 

Risk assets have been bolstered since late Wednesday, when Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank has made progress in its inflation battle even as labor-market data continues to show tightness that could add to wage pressures. The Labor Department releases its hiring report for January on Friday. 

“Data will drive the Fed’s intent,” said Dennis DeBusschere, founder of 22V Research. “Payroll on Friday needs to confirm lower wages or internals will flip. We are still watching data.”

Investors across the globe have been cheering what they perceive as varying degrees of dovish tilts from central banks across the globe. Powell dodging a question about financial conditions easing recently fueled optimism among U.S. investors who had been prepared for him to push back against the recent rally in risk assets. Euphoria intensified after the Bank of England raised rates by half a point but indicated that its tightening cycle is drawing to a close. And while the European Central Bank remained somewhat hawkish, traders were heartened when President Christine Lagarde acknowledged disinflation.

“After the Fed and Bank of England both hinted at being close to the peak in their cycles, today’s meeting suggests the ECB is comfortable that it is also close to the end of its monetary tightening,” said Steve Ryder,  senior portfolio manager at Aviva Investors. “We believe this peak tightening backdrop will continue to reduce volatility in government bonds over the coming months and make for an attractive income opportunity.”

Meanwhile, positioning in U.S. swaps markets assumes the Fed is getting closer to cutting rates as traders bet that economic conditions are likely to keep it from the additional rate increases that policy makers still anticipate.

“While the Fed slowed its pace of rate hikes, there is still plenty of uncertainty on the trajectory of inflation and how its tightening of monetary policy will affect economic growth and earnings this year,” said Brad Bernstein, a Philadelphia-based managing director at UBS Wealth Management. 

However, investors will now shift their focus to big-tech earnings, he said.

“Guidance from big-tech earnings is likely to set the tone and direction of markets in the near-term,” he said.

Key events this week:

• Earnings Thursday include: Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Qualcomm
• Eurozone S&P Global Eurozone Services PMI, PPI, Friday
• U.S. unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 1.5 per cent as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 3.6 per cent
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 per cent
• The MSCI World index rose 0.9 per cent

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4 per cent
• The euro fell 0.7 per cent to US$1.0913
• The British pound fell 1.1 per cent to US$1.2236
• The Japanese yen rose 0.2 per cent to 128.72 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.8 per cent to US$23,865.01
• Ether rose 2.8 per cent to US$1,680.96

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 3.40 per cent
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined 20 basis points to 2.08 per cent
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined 30 basis points to 3.01 per cent

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7 per cent to US$75.85 a barrel
• Gold futures fell 0.8 per cent to US$1,926.30 an ounce