Dow Jones, Nasdaq, S&P 500 weekly preview: FOMC, NFP, Apple, Microsoft and more

investing.com:

The S&P 500 (SPX) added 1.1% last week as bulls continue to close in on the new big target – 5000. The old record high of 4818 is now acting as support with the index in a bull mode as long as it keeps closing above this level on a daily basis.

The S&P 500 rallied to fresh highs, driven by favorable economic data and strong tech earnings. Despite some initial concerns due to soft earnings from several industrial behemoths like GE, the market was buoyed by a less hawkish regional Fed survey and robust earnings from Netflix. A reserve rate cut from the PBOC also contributed to the surge.

The rally was further supported by a mix of «Goldilocks» economic data and a less hawkish European Central Bank decision. However, the week ended on a mixed note with soft guidance from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) jumped 0.7% to secure a new weekly closing high. Finally, the Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) was up 0.9% although the bulls failed to secure a close near intra-week highs after Intel’s disappointing guidance.

Packed calendar

This week’s economic data and earnings calendar is packed with high-risk events.

“This could be the greatest week for “event risk” in many years — or perhaps we could call it “event reward”,” analysts at Argus said in a note.

First, the Federal Reserve is set to conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday.

“We expect the Fed to stay on hold at the January FOMC meeting and to change its policy rate guidance in the post-meeting statement to more neutral language,” economists at Bank of America said.

On Friday, we will hear about the state of the US jobs market in January.

“Job growth should again be narrowly driven by the public and high-touch service sectors,” the economists