Wall Street Inches Up Post Fed; Chipmakers Rebound; Gold, Crude Falter: What's Driving Market Thursday?
U.S. stock markets surged during Thursday’s midday trading session in New York, with major averages all showing gains.
Trader sentiment rebounded thanks to positive signals from corporate earnings and relief after Fed Chair Jerome Powell dismissed the possibility of a rate hike during Wednesday’s press conference.
The S&P 500 inched 0.3% up at 12:30 p.m. ET, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slightly outperformed, up 0.6%. Semiconductors stood out as a bright spot, buoyed by robust quarterly results and optimistic guidance from Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM). The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SOXX) rose 1.2%, after plummeting 3.4% Wednesday.
Small caps fared better than large caps, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) up 1%.
Treasury yields moved slightly lower after Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting indicating reduced fears on potential upward moves in interest rates. The policy-sensitive 2-year yield fell to 4.9%, after touching 5.05% on Wednesday.
Commodities slid, with gold dropping by 0.8% and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude declining by 0.5% to $78 a barrel, poised to close at its lowest level since Mar. 13, 2024.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) slightly rebounded to $59,000 after tumbling to as low as $56,500 Wednesday.
Thursday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg |
| Russell 2000 | 2,000.82 | 1.0% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 17,396.76 | 0.6% |
| Dow Jones | 37,994.03 | 0.3% |
| S&P 500 | 5,028.09 | 0.3% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) rose 0.4% to $502.18, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.4% to $380.46 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) rocketed 0.6% to $424.21, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Sector-wise, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) outperformed, up 0.7%, followed by the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP), up 0.6%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) was the major laggard, down 1%.
Thursday’s Stock Movers
- Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) fell 5.8% after the company missed quarterly revenue estimates.
- Other stocks reacting to earnings were ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) down 1.6%, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) up 3.8%, Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) down 2.4%, Southern Co (NYSE:SO) up 0.6%, Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) up 6%, Moodys Corp. (NYSE:MCO) down 1%, Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO) up 3.9%, Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) up 9%, American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) up 1.9%, MetLife Inc. (NYSE:MET) down 4% and DoorDash Inc. (NASDAQ:DASH).
- Notable companies reporting after the close include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG), EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE:EOG), MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI), Pioneer Natural Resource Company (NYSE:PXD), Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ:MNST), Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) and Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT).
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