Wall Street climbs to trim its loss for week
NEW YORK (AP) — US stocks climbed Thursday to trim the majority of their losses for the week.
The S&P 500 rose 45.81 points, or 0.9%, to 5,064.20 a day after swinging sharply when the Federal Reserve said it’s likely delaying cuts to interest rates but not planning to hike them. It more than halved its drop for the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 322.37, or 0.9%, to 38,225.66, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 235.48, or 1.5%, to 15,840.96.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased ahead of a report on Friday from the US government on how many jobs employers added last month. It’s one of the most highly anticipated economic reports each month, and economists expect it to show a slowdown in hiring.
“The markets will be hungry for any data suggesting the economy isn’t heating up any more than it did in” the first three months of 2024, according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. That would give the Fed more leeway to consider cutting rates.
Earnings reports from several big companies helped drive the market higher. Qualcomm rose 9.7% after topping forecasts for profit and revenue in the latest quarter.
The tech company also gave forecasted ranges for upcoming revenue and profit whose midpoints topped analysts’ expectations.
Carvana revved 33.8% higher after the used-car seller reported much better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, boosted by better-than-forecast sales.
MGM Resorts International rose 2.8% after likewise topping forecasts for profit and revenue. It credited stronger traffic at MGM China, which ramped up as COVID-19 restrictions fell away in Macau.
Apple climbed 2.2% ahead of its profit report, which arrived after trading ended Thursday. It’s the latest to report among the group of stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven,” which drove the majority of the market’s gains last year.
They helped to offset a 15.1% drop for Etsy, which only roughly matched analysts’ expectations for results and revenue. It cited a “still challenging” environment where customers broadly are more selective about the non-essentials they’re buying..