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Stocks jumped for a third straight day on Thursday, building on a strong rally this week, as investors digested the latest news out of Ukraine and got comfortable with the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials demonstrated some “hitch” in their “giddyap”, leaping 417.66 points, or 1.2%, to finish the session at 34,480.76
The S&P 500 points jumped 53.81 points to 4,411.67.
The NASDAQ Composite heightened 178.23 points, or 1.3%, to 13,614.78.
The moves come after a massive two-day rally for stocks. The S&P 500 jumped more than 3% in the previous two sessions, while the Dow posted back-to-back surges of more than 500 points. It’s on pace for its first positive week in six.
Energy stocks led the market higher as West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, jumped more than 8% to back above $100 per barrel. Devon Energy added 9.6%, and Diamondback climbed 6.5%
Stocks climbed even after the Kremlin reportedly dismissed news of progress in Ukraine-Russia peace talks. According to Bloomberg News, a Kremlin spokesman those reports were “wrong.” The Financial Times reported Wednesday that both countries had made “significant progress” on a peace plan and Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.
American Express led the Dow higher with a gain of more than 3.5% after Bank of America kept its buy rating on the stock.
Health stocks and software companies also posted strong gains. Cardinal Health, up more than 6.3%, was one of the top gainers in the S&P 500. Eli Lilly gained 3.2%. Meanwhile, Intuit rose 3.4%.
Wall Street was also digesting the latest moves from the Federal Reserve. The Fed hiked its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2018 and signaled six more hikes this year, spurring a relief rally in stocks.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of jobless claims filed last week totaled 214,000, which was better than the Dow Jones estimate of 220,000 and a decline from 15,000 in the previous week.
Treasury prices faded, raising yields to 2.20% from Wednesday’s 2.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped $8.34 to $103.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $28.20 to $1,937.40 U.S. an ounce.
