Stocks climbed Thursday after new labor market data boosted investors’ confidence in the U.S. economy following a sharp market sell-off earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 490 points higher, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 climbed 1.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.9%.
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly surged around 9% after posting better-than-expected earnings and raising its full-year outlook on strong demand for diabetes treatment Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound. The momentum names which suffered the most Monday bounced back Thursday. Chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom jumped 4% and 5.2%, respectively. Meta Platforms climbed 3%, and Apple ticked up 1.3%.
The latest weekly jobless claims came in below forecasts, helping to allay some recent concerns on the strength of the labor market. First-time filings for jobless benefits came in at 233,000 last week, down 17,000 from the previous week and lower than the Dow Jones estimate for 240,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The 10-year Treasury yield tracked higher to 3.99% following the jobless claims data, a level seen before the disappointing July jobs report Friday sent markets reeling.
Also aiding markets Thursday was a weaker Japanese yen versus the U.S. dollar. A yen surge that caused the unwinding of a popular so-called carry trade with hedge funds was a main culprit cited for Monday’s stock drop.
Thursday’s gains come as the major averages attempt to recover from Monday’s stock rout, during which the Dow and the broad market index fell to their worst day since September 2022. Stocks were also unable to hold an early rally on Wednesday, fueling concerns that the factors that caused Monday’s sell-off haven’t gone away.
“We’re trading a little bit on fundamentals today, but the market is still in assessment mode,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
