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U.S. stock markets surged on Thursday, driven by a rebound in tech majors. Intel gained the most, while Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet and Amazon all closed higher. Microsoft also gained after the company reorganized itself into two main engineering teams.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed at 24,103.11, gaining 1.1% or 254.69 points. The S&P 500 Index (INX) increased 1.4% to close at 2,640.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) closed at 7,063.45, increasing 1.6%. A total of 7.49 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 7.29 billion shares. Advancers outnumbered declining issues on the NYSE by 3.66-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, advancing issues had an edge over decliners by 2.23-to-1 ratio. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) declined 12.68% and closed at 19.97.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow gained 1.1% with 24 stocks of the 30-stock index closing in the green. For the blue-chip index, five stocks traded in the red while one remained unchanged. The S&P 500 increased 1.4% led by 2.2% gain of the tech sector, after gaining 3.2% earlier in the session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also gained 1.6% driven by a sharp rebound in tech stocks.
Technology Stocks Drive Markets
Major driver of Thursday’s stock markets surge was the turnaround in the tech sector which suffered significant losses in recent times. First, a major data breach of about 50 million users of Facebook Inc. and then President Trump’s indication that the government may impose Internet taxes to rein in Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) weighed on the tech sector. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s (NVDA) stock also plunged as it halted autonomous-driving tests.Nvidiaholds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Thursday’s turnaround of the tech stocks once again indicated investor’s faith in the sector which contributed the most to the recent Bull Run. Intel Inc. (INTC - Free Report) gained the most, increasing 5%. Shares of Facebook, Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) , Netflix Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) , Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) and Amazon gained 4.4%, 0.8%, 3.4%, 3.2% and 1.1%, respectively. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - Free Report) also gained 2.1% after the company established two separate engineering teams, one for experiences and devices and another for cloud and AI platforms.
Economic Data
Personal income for the month of February increased 0.4% — in line with the consensus estimate. For the three straight months, the metric remains unchanged. Meanwhile, personal spending increased 0.2%, in line with the consensus estimate.
PCE Inflation increased 0.2% in the month of February, lower than the previous month’s increase of 0.3%. Core PCE Inflation increased 0.2% for February — in line with the consensus estimate.
Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted jobless claims came in at 215,000 for the week ended Mar 24, the lowest level witnessed since January 1973. The metric also came in under the consensus estimate of 228,000.
Weekly Roundup
For the week, all the three major benchmarks increased. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained 2.7%, 2.1% and 1% respectively. Markets staged a powerful rebound on Monday as tensions of an ensuing trade war between the United States and China appeared to ease. However, on Tuesday markets declined sharply due to the tech tumble. E-commerce giant Amazon’s shares plunged following reports that President Trump has indicated that he wants to rein in the company.
Monthly Review
For the month of March, all three major stock market indexes witnessed a sharp decline. Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq decreased 3.5%, 2.7% and 2.9%, respectively. Nasdaq’s monthly decline was the biggest since January 2016.
President Trump imposed $60 billion of tariffs Chinese imports, giving rise to fears of an ensuing trade war. Shares of Facebook took a massive hit after the company’s image was tarnished following an alleged data misuse scandal. Also, shares of Amazon plunged as a report stated that Trump may impose Internet taxes to rein in the e-commerce giant. All these developments have shaken up the whole tech sector.
Quarterly Roundup
In the first quarter of 2018, both Dow and S&P lost 2.3% and 1.2%, respectively, while Nasdaq gained 2.3%. Both Dow and S&P 500 traded in red after nine straight quarters while Nasdaq notched up its seventh-straight quarterly gain.Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, the VIX surged 81% over the first quarter, its biggest quarterly increase since 2011, according to the WSJ Market Data Group.
All three indexes posted gains during the month of January. Stock markets entered correction territory in February due to high inflationary expectations. Following a short resurgence, stocks continued to suffer in March due to President Trump’s tariff policies and the tech stock plunge, which occurred due to certain company-specific issues. However, strong consumer and business sentiments and a robust labor market helped to curb losses toward the end of the first quarter.
PVH Corp. (PVH - Free Report) reported better-than-expected earnings and sales in fourth-quarter fiscal 2017. (Read More)
Can Hackers Put Money INTO Your Portfolio?
Earlier this year, credit bureau Equifax announced a massive data breach affecting 2 out of every 3 Americans. The cybersecurity industry is expanding quickly in response to this and similar events. But some stocks are better investments than others.
Zacks has just released Cybersecurity! An Investor’s Guide to help Zacks.com readers make the most of the $170 billion per year investment opportunity created by hackers and other threats. It reveals 4 stocks worth looking into right away.
Image: Bigstock
Stock Market News For April 2, 2018
U.S. stock markets surged on Thursday, driven by a rebound in tech majors. Intel gained the most, while Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet and Amazon all closed higher. Microsoft also gained after the company reorganized itself into two main engineering teams.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed at 24,103.11, gaining 1.1% or 254.69 points. The S&P 500 Index (INX) increased 1.4% to close at 2,640.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) closed at 7,063.45, increasing 1.6%. A total of 7.49 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 7.29 billion shares. Advancers outnumbered declining issues on the NYSE by 3.66-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, advancing issues had an edge over decliners by 2.23-to-1 ratio. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) declined 12.68% and closed at 19.97.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow gained 1.1% with 24 stocks of the 30-stock index closing in the green. For the blue-chip index, five stocks traded in the red while one remained unchanged. The S&P 500 increased 1.4% led by 2.2% gain of the tech sector, after gaining 3.2% earlier in the session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also gained 1.6% driven by a sharp rebound in tech stocks.
Technology Stocks Drive Markets
Major driver of Thursday’s stock markets surge was the turnaround in the tech sector which suffered significant losses in recent times. First, a major data breach of about 50 million users of Facebook Inc. and then President Trump’s indication that the government may impose Internet taxes to rein in Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) weighed on the tech sector. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s (NVDA) stock also plunged as it halted autonomous-driving tests.Nvidiaholds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Thursday’s turnaround of the tech stocks once again indicated investor’s faith in the sector which contributed the most to the recent Bull Run. Intel Inc. (INTC - Free Report) gained the most, increasing 5%. Shares of Facebook, Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) , Netflix Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) , Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) and Amazon gained 4.4%, 0.8%, 3.4%, 3.2% and 1.1%, respectively. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - Free Report) also gained 2.1% after the company established two separate engineering teams, one for experiences and devices and another for cloud and AI platforms.
Economic Data
Personal income for the month of February increased 0.4% — in line with the consensus estimate. For the three straight months, the metric remains unchanged. Meanwhile, personal spending increased 0.2%, in line with the consensus estimate.
PCE Inflation increased 0.2% in the month of February, lower than the previous month’s increase of 0.3%. Core PCE Inflation increased 0.2% for February — in line with the consensus estimate.
Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted jobless claims came in at 215,000 for the week ended Mar 24, the lowest level witnessed since January 1973. The metric also came in under the consensus estimate of 228,000.
Weekly Roundup
For the week, all the three major benchmarks increased. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained 2.7%, 2.1% and 1% respectively. Markets staged a powerful rebound on Monday as tensions of an ensuing trade war between the United States and China appeared to ease. However, on Tuesday markets declined sharply due to the tech tumble. E-commerce giant Amazon’s shares plunged following reports that President Trump has indicated that he wants to rein in the company.
Monthly Review
For the month of March, all three major stock market indexes witnessed a sharp decline. Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq decreased 3.5%, 2.7% and 2.9%, respectively. Nasdaq’s monthly decline was the biggest since January 2016.
President Trump imposed $60 billion of tariffs Chinese imports, giving rise to fears of an ensuing trade war. Shares of Facebook took a massive hit after the company’s image was tarnished following an alleged data misuse scandal. Also, shares of Amazon plunged as a report stated that Trump may impose Internet taxes to rein in the e-commerce giant. All these developments have shaken up the whole tech sector.
Quarterly Roundup
In the first quarter of 2018, both Dow and S&P lost 2.3% and 1.2%, respectively, while Nasdaq gained 2.3%. Both Dow and S&P 500 traded in red after nine straight quarters while Nasdaq notched up its seventh-straight quarterly gain.Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, the VIX surged 81% over the first quarter, its biggest quarterly increase since 2011, according to the WSJ Market Data Group.
All three indexes posted gains during the month of January. Stock markets entered correction territory in February due to high inflationary expectations. Following a short resurgence, stocks continued to suffer in March due to President Trump’s tariff policies and the tech stock plunge, which occurred due to certain company-specific issues. However, strong consumer and business sentiments and a robust labor market helped to curb losses toward the end of the first quarter.
Stocks That Made Headlines
PVH Corp Tops on Q4 Earnings & Sales, Issues FY18 View
PVH Corp. (PVH - Free Report) reported better-than-expected earnings and sales in fourth-quarter fiscal 2017. (Read More)
Can Hackers Put Money INTO Your Portfolio?
Earlier this year, credit bureau Equifax announced a massive data breach affecting 2 out of every 3 Americans. The cybersecurity industry is expanding quickly in response to this and similar events. But some stocks are better investments than others.
Zacks has just released Cybersecurity! An Investor’s Guide to help Zacks.com readers make the most of the $170 billion per year investment opportunity created by hackers and other threats. It reveals 4 stocks worth looking into right away.
Download the new report now>>