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U.S. stocks pushed modestly higher on Wednesday as the recent jump in bond yields took a breather, allowing tech stocks to recover.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed to within 9.42 points of breakeven by the closing bell Wednesday to 35,804.38.
The S&P 500 index struggled to a gain of 10.76 points to 4,701.46
The NASDAQ resurfaced 17.42 points to 15,845.23.
Shares of Facebook-parent Meta rose 1.1% to bolster the NASDAQ, while Roku and Peloton shook off rough starts to the week to rise more than 2% each. Computer hardware company HP’s shares got a 10% lift after reporting earnings that beat on the top and bottom lines and issuing higher first-quarter earnings guidance.
The move in rates earlier this week sent investors fleeing from tech and growth shares, while boosting some bank stocks and energy shares.
The divided market has left the Dow in the green for the week so far, the S&P 500 little changed and the NASDAQ down more than 1%, even with Wednesday’s move.
Earnings reports drove some of the biggest individual moves on Wednesday, as traditional retail stocks took a hit following poor quarterly results. Gap lost 24% and Nordstrom tumbled about 29%. Both companies reported earnings misses for the most recent quarter.
Elsewhere, software stock Autodesk fell 15% after the company issued disappointing fourth-quarter guidance.
The market did receive some positive news on the economic front. Initial jobless claims for the prior week came in at 199,000, the lowest level in more than 50 years. Gross Domestic Product growth for the third quarter was revised up slightly to 2.1%. Personal income and consumer spending both rose more than expected.
The data was not uniformly positive, however, as durable goods orders showed an unexpected decline in October, according to the Census Bureau. Core PCE, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, was up 4.1% year over year for October, matching estimates.
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday on Thanksgiving Day. The stock market closes early at 1 p.m. ET on Friday.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys gained back some ground, lowering yields to 1.64% from Tuesday’s 1.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices settled 18 cents to $78.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained five dollars to $1,788.70 U.S. an ounce.
