Pumped up by growth stocks in lighter trading, Wall St ended strongly on Thursday. US unemployment data indicated a Fed rate hike could dent the labor market
Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Thursday, led by rising stocks in light trade, as US unemployment data signaled that the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike could undermine the strength of the labor market to fight inflation. can start.
All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, with communications services and technology as the biggest winners with gains of nearly 3%.
"It's just a relief," said Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at Global Investments in Atlanta. "Selling pressure has been weighing heavily on the market lately and we may take a break. This has allowed stocks to move, and with low volume (that) could materialize on a good day."
Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc, whose shares have been battered in the past few sessions, each rose more than 2.5%.
The US Department of Labor reported an increase in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week. But the data points to a tight US job market, even as the Fed works to ease labor demand in a bid to lower inflation.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell 2.2 basis points to 3.864% on the news.
The Fed's aggressive interest rate hikes have hit equities this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 down 19.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down nearly 33%.
The technology, consumer discretionary and communications services sectors -- which contain many rate-sensitive high-growth stocks -- are down between 29% and 40% this year, making them among the worst performers in the S&P 500 sector index.
Energy stocks have bucked the trend with stellar annual gains of 57%.
Wall Street's main indexes fell more than 1% on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index hitting a 2022 low, as rising COVID cases in China and geopolitical tensions added to fears of a possible recession in 2023.
However, investors' preference for high-dividend-paying stocks with steady earnings limited losses in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is down just 8.5% for the year.
The Dow rose 345.09 points, or 1.05%, to 33,220.8; The S&P 500 rose 66.06 points, or 1.75%, to 3,849.28; And the Nasdaq Composite rose 264.80 points, or 2.59%, to 10,478.09.
Tesla Inc shares soared after Chief Executive Elon Musk told employees they "shouldn't be bothered by the craziness of the stock market."
For 2022, Tesla's 66% slump and Amazon.com's 50% decline played a large role in the S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector's 38% loss. Some $1.6 trillion worth of shareholder value evaporated as investors shunned high-growth stocks with pricey earnings multiples.
Volume on US exchanges stood at 8.78 billion shares compared to an average of 10.95 billion for the entire session in the last 20 trading days.
outnumbering issues on the NYSE by a 4.80-to-1 ratio; On the Nasdaq, the 4.30-to-1 ratio was in favor of the advancers.
The S&P 500 posted a new 52-week high and no new lows; The Nasdaq Composite recorded 75 new highs and 160 new lows.
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