US stocks gain as Netflix earnings blowout spurs tech rally

• US stocks gained on Wednesday as investors cheered a strong earnings report from Netflix that included a new plan to rely less on the debt markets to fuel its content creation.
• Tech stocks surged, emboldened by Netflix’s better-than-expected earnings report.
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US stocks moved higher on Wednesday, with the technology sector leading the market higher following a strong earnings report from Netflix.

Shares of Netflix jumped as much as 13% after the company said it added a record 37 million paid subscribers in 2020, helping to drive its operating income up by 76%, to $4.6 billion.

The video-streaming company also said it expected positive free-cash-flow generation going forward and would begin to stop relying on the debt markets to fuel its content lineup; it could eventually explore a stock-buyback program.

Here’s where US indexes stood after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 3,822.76, up 0.63%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 31,015.98, up 0.28% (85.46 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 13,335.55, up 1.05%

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Morgan Stanley reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, driven by the firm’s trading unit and wealth-management arm.

Popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum pulled back on Wednesday after Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for treasury secretary, said it might make sense to “curtail” their use because they are mainly used for illicit activities in a transactional sense.

Alibaba surged 7% after its founder, Jack Ma, resurfaced in a videoconference. Ma had not been seen in public for months as Chinese regulators clamped down on the Ant Group initial public offering and Alibaba’s selling practices.

Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped as much as 1.32%, to $53.68 per barrel. Brent crude, oil’s international benchmark, gained 1.13%, to $56.63 per barrel, at intraday highs.

Gold rose as much as 1.05%, to $1,859.60 per ounce.

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