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Stocks rose slightly on Thursday as tech shares recovered some of their recent losses while traders weighed the latest batch of economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 52.31 points to end Thursday to 26,815.44.
The S&P 500 gained 9.67 points to 3,246.59.
The NASDAQ ultimately gained 39.28 points to 10,672.27.
Apple picked up 1%, and Microsoft shares rose 1.3%, to lead tech higher. Alphabet shares gained nearly 1% and Amazon advanced 0.7%. Netflix was up 0.5% and Facebook advanced 0.2%.
So far in September the S&P 500 has declined 7.3%, while the Dow has shed 5.7%. The NASDAQ has been the relative underperformer, registering a loss of 9.4% as investors rotate out of Big Tech. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet and Microsoft are all down at least 9.9% in September.
Wall Street is also grappling with a lack of new fiscal stimulus, which several economists and the Federal Reserve argue is needed for the economic recovery to continue.
This lack of a stimulus bill led Goldman Sachs to slash its fourth-quarter GDP forecast to 3% from 6% on an annualized basis.
Some sources reported that Democrats are putting together a scaled-back aid package and plan to vote on it next week. The source said the bill would cost $2.4 trillion, which is well above what Republicans and the White House said they would agree to
Comments from President Donald Trump that he would not commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election appeared to hit sentiment, raising concern about a drawn-out election result.
The weekly report in claims highlights that job creation in the aftermath of the pandemic is stalling out, raising further fears about the shape of the U.S.’s return to normality.
Jobless claims rose 4,000 to 870,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday, reflecting that slightly more Americans applied for state unemployment benefits in the week ended Sept. 19 than in the prior week.
However, the Census Bureau reported that new home sales in the U.S. totaled just over one million in August. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 898,000.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained, driving yields down to 0.67% from Wednesday’s 0.68%, Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 29 cents to $40.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $5.60 to $1,874.00 U.S. an ounce.
