US close: Tech rally keeps Wall Street well above water
Wall Street trading ended Wednesday’s session on a much more positive note as a technology and internet stock rally remained intact, on the back of a degree of optimism around ongoing trade talks between China and the US.
Dow Jones I.A.
38,460.92
04:30 15/10/20
Nasdaq 100
17,430.50
12:00 25/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1.4% at 25,146.39, the S&P 500 added 0.86% to 2,772.35, and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6% to 7,210.08.
In the wake of an unexpected interest rate hike by the central bank of India - one of the world's largest emerging markets - and following somewhat hawkish remarks by the European Central Bank's chief economist, some analysts were also carefully monitoring movements in the US Treasury market.
"Treasuries continue to await next week's FOMC decision but keeping an eye on trade and ongoing European political concerns,” said analysts at TD Securities.
“Choppy price action is likely to continue in the meantime as investors attempt to fine-tune rate hike pricing, keeping the front-end supported."
Overnight, the World Bank forecast that the rate of growth in global gross domestic product would cool over the next two years after reaching a clip of 3.1% in 2018.
It also pointed to uncertainty around economic policy as a possible risk factor, together with the risk of a "credit event" in one of the major emerging markets or a sudden tightening of monetary policy in the US which might lead to a spike in interest rates.
In trade news, China signalled its willingness to boost purchases of US-made goods in 2018 by $25bn to $75bn.
On the economic front, the Department of Commerce reported that the country's international trade deficit shrank by 2.7% month-on-month for April to reach -$46.2bn, slightly ahead of Wall Street forecasts of -$49.0bn.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unit labour costs grew at an annualised pace of 2.9% in the US over the first three months of the year, again a touch above the consensus 2.7% increase.
In corporate news, shares in Axovant Sciences rocketed 160% after disclosing it had entered into a $842.5m licensing agreement with Oxford BioMedica for its OXB-102 gene therapy treatment for Parkinson's disease.
Devon Energy picked up 5.57% following the sale of its stakes in EnLink Midstream Partners and EnLink Midstream, allowing it ramp-up its share buy-back programme from $1bn to $4bn.
Signet Jewelers climbed 18.39% after the company posted better-than-expected adjusted earnings per share and revenue figures.
Western Digital gave up earlier gains to fall 1.37% after analysts at Cowen raised the firm's price target, and Mylan added 1.25% a day after the stock's best day since October 2017.
Tesla stock rose 9.74% after the company revealed it was nearing its Model 3 weekly production rate and Delta Air Lines lost 0.91% after the airline said it expected a surge in fuel prices to eat into its profits.
Dow Jones - Risers
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $70.04 4.33%
Boeing Co. (BA) $371.56 3.00%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $156.46 2.63%
Visa Inc. (V) $136.26 2.41%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $110.36 1.76%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $101.91 1.67%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $248.62 1.64%
American Express Co. (AXP) $100.97 1.53%
3M Co. (MMM) $203.86 1.39%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $44.26 1.35%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $84.56 -1.01%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $128.74 -0.73%
General Electric Co. (GE) $13.64 -0.51%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.36 -0.19%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $61.93 -0.15%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.46 -0.07%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $74.35 0.23%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $102.49 0.29%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $193.98 0.35%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $126.78 0.42%
S&P 500 - Risers
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $52.27 19.61%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $7.75 19.05%
Macy's Inc. (M) $40.08 8.09%
Equifax Inc. (EFX) $124.72 6.79%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $24.20 6.78%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $31.09 6.51%
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $18.12 6.21%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $29.08 5.90%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $18.20 5.75%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $42.56 4.91%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $52.47 -6.32%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $7.32 -4.94%
PPL Corp. (PPL) $25.67 -4.86%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $55.53 -4.65%
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $18.04 -4.35%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $52.09 -4.00%
NiSource Inc. (NI) $23.54 -3.88%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $78.76 -3.87%
Wisconsin Energy Corp. (WEC) $59.34 -3.59%
Edison International (EIX) $58.90 -3.43%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $319.50 9.74%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $31.12 5.81%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $40.40 3.94%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $32.27 3.83%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $53.20 3.58%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $275.09 3.44%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $48.02 3.07%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $28.09 3.04%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $28.99 2.84%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $74.79 2.78%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $52.09 -4.00%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $81.59 -1.64%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $84.72 -1.37%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $199.61 -1.10%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $58.67 -0.86%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $191.34 -0.83%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $52.53 -0.72%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $117.43 -0.59%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $112.59 -0.59%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $1,146.95 -0.35%