Stocks climb as tech rebounds
The Dow gains 254 points. Also, major U.S. markets will be closed in observance of Good Friday.
U.S. stocks jumped, with technology shares leading the way, as equity markets ended a tumultuous quarter on a high note.
The S&P 500 index closed up 35.87 points, or 1.4%, to 2,640.87. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 254.69 points, or 1.1%, to 24,103.11. The Nasdaq added 114.22 points, or 1.6%, to 7,063.44.
Gains were led by energy companies and chipmakers. They were helped by a recovery in Amazon.com after a White House spokeswoman said President Trump isn’t planning to take action against the company after he complained about its sales tax practices.
Stock trading volumes were subdued ahead of a long weekend. The S&P 500 closed the first three months of the year down 1.2%, marking the first quarterly loss for the gauge since 2015. The dollar posted its fifth straight quarterly decline and oil its third consecutive quarterly gain.
The arrival of the Easter holiday will be a relief for many investors after a rollercoaster start to the year in which stellar global equity gains gave way to a volatility blowup in February and a technology-led rout in recent days. Most Western markets are set to be closed on Friday, and many European countries are also out on Monday.
“Let’s get out of this quarter and take a breather,” said Rich Guerrini, chief executive of PNC Investments. “We need some market stability at this point, and hopefully we get to some calmer waters.”
A rally in technology stocks helped the sector recoup some of its big losses from earlier in the week. Facebook was among the gainers, its shares adding 4% to $159.79. Amazon, which fell early on Trump’s latest tweets, finished up 1.1% at $1,447.34.
PVH, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, climbed 5.2% after its results beat expectations. Beverage maker Constellation Brands rose 3.4% after reporting a solid quarter. Movado Group jumped 15.7% after the watchmaker’s fourthquarter earnings exceeded financial analysts’ forecasts.
Acxiom shares tumbled 19% after the marketing data firm said it had been informed by Facebook that the social network will stop using third-party data providers like Acxiom over the next several months. Acxiom said it doesn’t expect the move to affect its fiscal 2018 guidance, but noted it expects its total revenue and profitability to be negatively affected by as much as $25 million.
Bitcoin fell as much as 10% on Thursday, pushing it toward the $7,000 mark and the lowest level on a closing basis since early February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The slide took the currency’s 2018 losses to 50%. Other digital assets, including rivals Ripple and Litecoin, fell more.