By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The Nasdaq climbed to record highs Thursday, as investors piled into big tech ahead of the final wave of big tech earnings from Amazon (NASDAQ:) and Apple (NASDAQ:).

The Nasdaq  rallied 1.2%, and had earlier notched a record of 15,425.6 The rose 0.16% to remain close to its all-time high of 4,598.36. It gained 0.52% (or 186 points).

Apple and Amazon led the gains for big tech as investors increased their bullish bets on the stocks ahead of the duo’s quarterly reports due after the market close.

Facebook (NASDAQ 🙂 also announced its intention to change its name, Meta. This announcement was made at the virtual reality conference where Facebook (NASDAQ:) showed a glimpse of what it plans to do to create the metaverse, which will allow it to diversify its business beyond social media. 

eBay shares fell about 6% as its fourth-quarter revenue guidance was below estimates. It sparked concerns over its holiday sales.

In the meantime, some of the losses suffered by economically sensitive sectors cyclical to economic issues were reduced despite data showing that there was a slowdown in third quarter.

The third-quarter GDP grew by 2.0% annually in the 3rd quarter. This is well below the expected 2.6% increase.

It was the lowest pace for five quarters because of the Delta version of coronavirus. Jefferies (NYSE 🙂 noted in a note that the Delta virus “slowed consumers demand and higher prices which eroded actual demand across all industries.”

However, any bets placed on the economy’s decline are useless as consumers keep spending and the monetary policy is accommodative.

Robert Conzo, Wealth Alliance CEO and President said in an interview to Investing.com that he didn’t think the growth story would end soon.

Conzo stated, “There is an enormous wall of money. Interest rates are close to zero. People are emerging out of the second round of pandemic due to increased vaccination rates. That’s driving extreme growth.”

The weaker data was not a problem for U.S. Treasury yields, which helped bank stocks rise higher and boost financials.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ :), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE :). First Republic Bank (NYSE) were over 1% higher.

Smith AO’s gains (NYSE:) led to consumer discretionary stocks also rising in popularity. United Rentals Following better-than expected quarterly results, (NYSE:

Tesla (NASDAQ: Ford) also supported this sector. The latter surged after the quarter’s blowout results.

Ford Motor (NYSE:) reported earnings of 51 cents that markedly topped Wall Street’s forecasts, and raised its full-year guidance, sending its shares up more than 10%.

The broader market moved higher in energy, as oil prices increased their losses from the previous day amid worries about the demand outlook.

ANZ Research stated that a surge in COVID-19 cases could disrupt oil demand recovery.  “Despite emerging market tightness signs, OPEC will likely refrain from adding additional barrels to the market.”