U.S. Stocks Rally Amid Easing Worries About Possible Rate Hike

(RTTNews) - Stocks fluctuated early in the session on Thursday before moving sharply higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside after ending Wednesday's trading narrowly mixed.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 322.37 points or 0.9 percent to 38,225.66, the Nasdaq surged 235.48 points or 1.5 percent to 15,840.96 and the S&P 500 advanced 45.81 points or 0.9 percent at 5,064.20.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders seemed to breathe a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

Traders have recently expressed some concerns the Fed's next monetary policy move could actually be an interest rate hike rather than a cut, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell post-meeting remarks seem to have alleviated those worries.

"Not only did Powell choose not to give a hawkish press conference, he took great pains to be dovish," said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. "At every turn he looked on the bright side of data - from higher-than-expected inflation to recent lower-than-expected economic growth - and dismissed any suggestions that the Fed was pivoting from rate cuts to rate hikes." He added, "He explicitly said he believes their next move would be a cut - even if it will take longer to get to that cut than they believed a short time ago - and set the bar extremely high for rate hikes."

Earlier in the day, stocks saw considerable volatility as traders reacted to the latest batch of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing a surge by labor costs in the first quarter of 2024.

The Labor Department said unit labor costs soared by 4.7 percent in the first quarter following a revised unchanged reading in the fourth quarter.

Economists had expected labor costs to shoot up by 3.2 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase that had been reported for the previous quarter.

"Productivity growth wasn't strong enough to significantly mitigate the rise in wages last quarter," said Nationwide Financial Markets Economist Oren Klachkin. "The strong rise in unit labor costs is another in a string of recent data points indicating that inflation pressures remain relatively high."

A separate Labor Department showed initial jobless claims came in unchanged last week, while a Commerce Department report showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly in March.

Sector News

Transportation stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, resulting in a 2.5 percent spike by the Dow Jones Transportation Average.

Avis Budget (CAR) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) skyrocketed on the day after reporting their quarterly results.

Substantial strength also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Retail stocks also showed a significant move to the upside as the day progressed, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index up by 2.0 percent.

Housing, computer hardware and brokerage stocks also saw considerable strength, while pharmaceutical stocks bucked the uptrend.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.5 percent, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and South Korea's Kospi dipped by 0.3 percent.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index slipped by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.9 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved modestly higher over the course of the session after seeing early weakness. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 2.4 basis points to 4.571 percent after reaching a high of 4.651 percent.

Looking Ahead

The Labor Department's monthly jobs report is likely to be in the spotlight on Friday, although a report on service sector activity may also attract attention.

On the earnings front, tech giant Apple (AAPL) is among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.