Cryptocurrency Bitcoin with price rally after price fall, tech stocks with price gains

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Course rally on the Nasdaq:

The deceased Apple forefather Steve Jobs would have been pleased with the latest Apple figures.

The tech heavyweight pulled the entire market higher on Friday

Photo: Mark Lennihan/ AP

In the US technology sector, the tech giant Apple sent a strong signal with its quarterly figures on Friday.

In the course of the day, the iPhone manufacturer's papers increased their profits by up to seven percent.

The good run of the shares was also coupled with a late overall market rally: Both the Dow and the Nasdaq 100 were still strongly positive in the two closing hours.

At the last minute, the result of a turbulent week for the Nasdaq 100 index even turned slightly positive.

After initial losses, the

closed 1.7 percent higher on Friday at 34,725 points.

The tech

advanced 3.2 percent to 14,454 points.

The broad

gained 2.4 percent to 4431 points.

Apple sales grew 11 percent

Despite the global chip shortage, Apple again achieved record numbers in the Christmas business.

At $34.6 billion, quarterly profit was a good fifth higher than a year earlier.

Sales rose by around eleven percent to almost 124 billion dollars, also a record.

The iPhone was once again the growth driver.

Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan commented that the company delivered strong results despite headwinds from the macro economy and supply chains.

Without the impact of chip shortages, the Californians could have sold even more.

Apple estimates that sales were pushed down by more than six billion dollars.

However, if, as expert Ingo Wermann from DZ Bank writes, the word "record" occurs 41 times in the analysts' conference on the quarterly figures, then this shows more than clearly that the group was able to cushion the problems very well.

At the beginning of the year, Apple was the first company in the world to reach a market value of three trillion dollars at a price of almost 183 dollars.

Due to the sell-off in the technology sector, it recently went down to just under $155.

However, as shares bounced back above the $170 mark on Friday, they have now recovered 10 percent.

If the problem of the lack of chips is solved, sales and profits should be able to be significantly increased again, according to the market.

"solid as a rock"

"If there was ever a time when the stock market really needed Apple to lighten the current negative sentiment, it's this time," wrote analyst Konstantin Oldenburger of brokerage CMC Markets.

The market as a whole should now continue to stabilize after the sell-off at the start of the week and the Fed shock on Wednesday, said Oldenburger. With its huge cash reserves, enormous cash flows and the share buyback program, Apple is a rock in the surf. However, even the iPhone manufacturer is not completely immune to exogenous shocks, as the 2020 Covid crash showed.

According to market analyst Edward Moya from broker Oanda, stock market activity is likely to be characterized by major fluctuations for some time to come.

In addition to "buy the dip", the bargain hunters have a new motto, namely "sell the rally".

So they always looked for opportunities when prices fell, but not for longer-term investments.

Stock market volatility remains high after the Fed unveiled plans for rate hikes from March.

Bitcoin surges back to $38,000

Cryptocurrencies also rose sharply in late Friday trading in the wake of US stock markets. On Saturday morning, one bitcoin was again just above the $38,000 mark, an increase of 7 percent. Since its record high of $67,000, Bitcoin had temporarily lost more than half of its market capitalization before a first recovery began on Tuesday. However, trade remains volatile.

Most recently, Bitcoin fell in lockstep with US tech stocks - and rose again with them on Friday.

Meanwhile, the narrative that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin work as an inflation hedge because the number of bitcoins is limited has been proven to be false.

As investors seek refuge in gold, selling pressure on Bitcoin and other cybercurrencies has escalated in recent weeks.

Oil prices near seven-year high

On the crude oil market, the North Sea variety Brent Oil reached the highest level in seven years at 90 dollars.

The US grade WTI also stayed close to its recent seven-and-a-half-year high per barrel (159 liters).

The reason for this is the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.

"Concerns remain that in the event of a military escalation, Russian oil and gas supplies could be disrupted."

Against this backdrop, shares in oil companies such as Exxon and Chevron gained up to two percent.

Visa asked for profit jump

was the largest Dow gainer at about 6 percent

.

The credit card group generated a jump in profit and sales in the fourth quarter.

However, the statement that consumer spending is picking up again also had a supportive effect.

Netflix recovers from crash: Hedge fund Pershing is now the largest single shareholder

When it came to technology stocks, Netflix was one of the favorites, with a price increase of almost ten percent at times.

This is the biggest price jump in a year.

At the end of trading, it was still enough for a premium of 7.5 percent.

In a letter to clients, billionaire William Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square said it had taken advantage of the online video store's recent price decline to buy nearly $1 billion in shares.

Pershing is now Netflix's largest shareholder with a 20 percent stake.

In the past few days, the papers had fallen by around 30 percent at times due to a gloomy outlook.

With news agencies