Dow Jumps 400 Points, Nasdaq Adds More Than 2% to Cut Two-Day Losing Streak
U.S. stocks rose Thursday after an intraday comeback as the three major indexes each snapped two-day losing streaks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 435.05 points, or 1.3%, to close at 33,248.28. The S&P 500 gained 1.8% to 4,176.82. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.7% to 12,316.90.
The three averages are now on pace for a positive week. The Dow is up 0.1%. The S&P 500 inched up 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5% week to date.
"Bearish sentiment remains overdone, and a lot of the upcoming profit warnings should mostly be already priced in. Stocks should start to eventually push higher this summer as economic activity moderates," said Edward Moya, senior analyst with OANDA.
The indexes are now solidly off their lows of the year. The Dow is 8.5% higher. The S&P 500 is up 9.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 11.6% from their respective 52-week lows.
Thursday saw another rocky session on Wall Street with the stock averages oscillating between losses and gains. The Dow was down more than 300 points at its lows of the session.
Money Report
"The market is on pins and needles waiting to find out if inflation will come down and give us some respite from the Fed rate hike regimen. That's why we have this choppiness. It's a period of great uncertainty," Barry Bannister, Stifel chief equity strategist, said.
Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard on Thursday said it is unlikely the central bank will take a break from its current rate hiking cycle anytime soon.
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"Right now, it's very hard to see the cause for a pause," Brainard told CNBC's Sara Eisen during a "Squawk on the Street" interview. "We've still got a lot of work to do to get inflation down to our 2% target."
Elsewhere, Microsoft warned revenue and earnings this quarter would fall short of analysts' estimates. The stock initially fell, but made up losses to close with a 0.8% gain on the day.
Other technology names rose and boosted the Nasdaq. Nvidia gained 6.9%. Zoom rose about 4.3%, and Tesla added nearly 4.7%.
Meta Platforms edged 5.4% higher a day after Sheryl Sandberg announced she is stepping down from her role as chief operating officer.
Traders also parsed through corporate earnings results. Shares of pet retailer Chewy surged about 24% after the company reported strong quarterly results. Meanwhile, Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell 5.2% following slight misses on both earnings and revenue.
Job growth slows
Investors eyed employment data showing the slowest job creation pace of the pandemic-era recovery. Private sector employment rose by just 128,000 in May, ADP reported Thursday, falling well short of the 299,000 Dow Jones estimate. In another report Thursday, initial jobless claims last week fell and came in below expectations, according to the Labor Department.
The closely-watched jobs report for May is slated for release Friday morning. Economists expect 328,000 nonfarm jobs were added in the latest month, compared with 428,000 in April.
