Former St. Louis Fed President and CEO James Bullard discusses whether central banks should worry about how markets react to their decisions on ‘Cavuto: Coast to Coast.’
U.S. stocks rallied Thursday after a fresh read on jobless claims eased investor concerns about a looming recession and fueled what’s been a wild week for financial markets.
The Nasdaq Composite, which recently fell into correction territory, rose nearly 3%, helped by Nvidia, Intel and Palantir shares. The tech-heavy index is still below its all-time high of 18,647 reached in July.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 16660.020951 | +464.22 | +2.87% |
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 104.97 | +6.02 | +6.08% |
| INTC | INTEL CORP. | 20.49 | +1.50 | +7.90% |
| PLTR | PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. | 29.28 | +2.96 | +11.25% |
The S&P 500, the broadest measure of the stock market, rose over 2% in its best session since February. Technology, consumer discretionary and industrials led the gains while consumer staples and utilities — the more defensive plays — rose the least.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5319.31 | +119.81 | +2.30% |
| XLY | CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF | 173.79 | +3.80 | +2.24% |
| XLI | INDUSTRIAL SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF | 124.26 | +2.75 | +2.26% |
| XLV | HEALTH CARE SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF | 149.26 | +3.23 | +2.21% |
| XLU | UTILITIES SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF | 73.38 | +0.10 | +0.14% |
And the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell a dramatic 1,033 points on Monday, clawed back by rising 683 points.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
All of the Dow 30 members rose, led by Intel, Salesforce and Caterpillar, while Disney and Walgreens rose the least.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM | SALESFORCE INC. | 249.12 | +9.08 | +3.78% |
| CAT | CATERPILLAR INC. | 336.16 | +10.36 | +3.18% |
| AMGN | AMGEN INC. | 324.69 | +12.35 | +3.95% |
| DIS | THE WALT DISNEY CO. | 85.96 | +0.01 | +0.01% |
| WBA | WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE INC. | 10.86 | +0.08 | +0.74% |
INSIDE THE MOST RECENT JOBLESS CLAIMS DATA
Fewer Americans filed for weekly jobless benefits, falling from a one-year high, giving investors a bit of relief that the job market remains steady. A surprise pop in claims a week ago, combined with a softer July jobs report, with just 114,000 positions added and an uptick in unemployment to 4.3%, sparked concerns of a bubbling recession.
It also triggered the so-called “Sahm Rule” — when the three-month moving average of the unemployment rate is 0.5% below the 12-month low, an accurate recession predictor.
Speaking to FOX Business, Claudia Sahm, the chief economist at New Century Advisors, cautioned investors to take in more data before jumping the gun.
“A recession is a broad-based contraction economic activity, so I think we need to see more signs of it. I don’t think we need to see more signs to have say…
Read More: Dow jumps 683 points, S&P and Nasdaq roar higher as recession fears ease