Stocks shake off wobbly start
More than 85 percent of stocks in the S&P 500 notched gains
Stocks on Wall Street overcame a shaky start to close broadly higher Thursday, as the major indexes more than made up for their losses earlier in the holiday-shortened week.
The S&P 500 rose 1.8 percent, with more than 85 percent of the stocks in the benchmark index notching gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3 percent, while the Nasdaq climbed 2.7 percent.
Technology stocks accounted for a big share of the gains as Microsoft erased an early loss. Bond yields eased.
Trading has been choppy in recent days as investors remain worried about inflation and the interest rate increases the Federal Reserve is using to fight it. Thursday’s market rally may have been spurred, in part, by a report showing private sector hiring that came in well below economists’ forecasts.
“The private payroll report was pretty weak,” said Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth
Management. “It’s maybe one of those environments where people are looking for weak data that gives them some hope that the Fed will pause (rate hikes) in September.”
The S&P 500 rose 75.59 points to 4,176.82. The index has risen 7.1 percent since coming to the edge of a bear market two weeks ago. The Dow added 435.05 points to 33,248.28, while the Nasdaq gained 322.44 points at 12,316.90.
Rising energy prices have been feeding inflation, which is already at its highest levels in four decades. U.S. gasoline prices hit another record high Thursday, with the average price at the pump costing $4.71 per gallon, according to motoring club federation AAA.
Investors remain focused on the balance between inflation, rising interest rates and economic growth. The Federal Reserve is being closely watched as it tries to temper the impact from inflation by raising interest rates from historic lows during the pandemic.
Small company stocks rose, signaling confidence about economic growth. The Russell 2000 gained 42.85 points, or 2.3 percent, to 1,897.67.
Investors continue monitoring corporate earnings and financial updates. Microsoft rose 0.8 percent, recovering from an early slide, after cutting its financial forecasts for the current quarter. The software pioneer cited unfavorable changes in exchange rates.