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U.S. stocks jumped for a second day as fears around a crisis in China’s property market eased somewhat and as the Federal Reserve kept current monetary stimulus in place for just a little bit longer.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 506.50 points, or 1.5%, to 34,764.82
The S&P 500 jumped 53.34 points, or 1.2%, to 4,448.98
The NASDAQ Composite leaped 155.4 points, or 1%, to 15,052.24.
Thursday’s gains pushed the major averages back into the green for the week. The Dow is ahead 0.5% and S&P is now up 0.3%, while the NASDAQ has inched 0.06% higher for the week.
Salesforce led the Dow higher with a 7% gain after the cloud company raised its full-year 2022 revenue guidance. Darden Restaurants was among the big S&P movers, jumping more than 6% after reporting strong quarterly earnings.
Stocks linked to a global economic recovery were also higher as fears out of China eased. General Electric shares added about 4.5%. Las Vegas Sands, which has big China exposure, rose 3%. Caterpillar added more than 2%.
Energy stocks led the S&P, with APA Corp and Devon Energy up 7%.
Bank stocks got a boost as the 10-year Treasury yield bounced, providing a possible boost to their bottom lines. JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citibank added about 3%. Regional banks like Regions and Fifth Third, which tend to trade closely along with rates because of their reliance on lending, gained more than 4%.
Several companies are on deck for quarterly updates Thursday including Nike and Costco Wholesale, who will report once the market closes.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims rose last week as the labour market stateside continues its recovery from last year’s recession. There were 351,000 claims last week, topping estimates of 320,000. The reading for the week prior came in at 335,000.
The central bank implemented a $120-billion-per-month bond-buying program last year as the pandemic shuttered the economy. As economic conditions improve more members of the Federal Open Market Committee now see the first rate hike happening in 2022.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys fell back hard, pumping yields to 1.43% from Wednesday’s 1.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on one dollar to $73.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices staggered $30.70 to $1,748.10 U.S. an ounce.
