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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 484 points, or 1.4%, to 34,742.32
The S&P 500 spiked 55.12 points, or 1.3%, to 4,450.47,
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 146.91 points, or 1%, to 15,043.70.
Thursday morning gains pushed the Dow and S&P into the green for the week. The Dow is up 0.3% while the S&P is up nearly 0.2% on the week while the NASDAQ is still down by 0.2%.
Stocks linked to a global economic recovery were higher. General Electric shares added 3%. Las Vegas Sands, which has big China exposure, rose 2%. Caterpillar added 4%. Energy stocks were also higher.
Bank stocks, which are typically viewed as cyclical stocks whose performance is tied to the path of the economy, rose. JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citibank added 2%.
Salesforce rose 4% after the cloud company raised its full-year 2022 revenue guidance. Darden Restaurants jumped more than 8% after reporting strong quarterly earnings.
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 lost ground, boosting yields to 1.36% from Wednesday’s 1.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shot up 66 cents to $72.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stumbled $25.00 to $1,753.80 U.S. an ounce.
