NEW YORK: US stocks ended higher yesterday, led by a 2% gain in the Nasdaq, as shares of technology and other big growth names rebounded from recent losses and Nike rose after it reported upbeat results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.47 points, or 0.74%, to 34,807.46, the S&P 500 gained 50.43 points, or 1.13%, to 4,511.61 and the Nasdaq Composite added 270.36 points, or 1.95%, to 14,108.82.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.71-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.53-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.
Tesla Inc jumped 7.9% as the electric-car maker delivered its first German-made cars to customers at its Gruenheide gigafactory.
Financial shares also were among the day's best performers as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 2.368%, with the S&P 500 bank index up 2.5%.
Every S&P 500 sector but energy ended higher on the day. The three major indices have gained in five of the last six sessions.
Investors were still keeping a close eye on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, with Ukrainian officials saying the besieged port city of Mariupol is under continuous bombardment as Russian forces redouble their efforts to capture it.
The Federal Reserve last week raised the federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point from the near-zero level, and Fed officials are doing little to downplay rising market expectations the US central bank will raise rates by half a percentage point in May to tame inflation.
While higher borrowing costs are a negative for consumers and many businesses, they help to boost the profit outlook for banks.
Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc and Tesla Inc gave the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 technology index rose 1.4% on the day, but remained down 10% for the quarter so far, among the sharpest declines of the major sectors.
With the recent lows, “you sort of really did wash out the sellers”, said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group in Minneapolis. “Now you’re seeing even the old leadership bounce a little bit, giving people a little support that maybe the worst is over.
“Underneath all of it is that economic and earnings data have remained fairly good.”
Main European markets also finished in the green yesterday. The Stoxx 600 gained 0.85%, having climbed in recent sessions to reach a one-month high. London's FTSE 100 gained nearly 0.5%.
London’s FTSE 100 ended up 0.5% at 7,476.72, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 1.0% at 14,473.20 and Paris’ CAC-40 rose 1.2% to 6,659.41.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 3.2% to 21,889.28, resuming last week's rally sparked by China's pledge to support the country's markets and indicated a tech crackdown was nearing an end.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 climbed 1.5% to 27,224.11 and in Shanghai the composite index ended 0.2% higher at 3,259.86. – Reuters, AFP