GURU:CC - Dow Pops 300+
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday rallied more than 300 points and the S&P 500 touched a fresh 13-month high, as investors bet the Federal Reserve was close to done raising rates after the central bank this week paused its rate-hiking campaign following 10 consecutive increases.
The 30-stock index leaped 339.93 points, or 1%, to pause for lunch at 34,319.26.
The S&P 500 added 35.4 points to 4,407.99.
The NASDAQ index perked 99.68 points to 13,726.16.
Additional economic data releases Thursday morning gave investors and policymakers better insight on the strength of the labour market and consumer spending. Weekly jobless claims numbers were slightly above estimates at 262,000 compared to a Dow Jones estimate of 245,000, while retail sales ticked up 0.3%.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during a post-meeting press conference that the Federal Open Market Committee would use the six weeks until its next meeting to “take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy.” He added that a decision on July's policy move has not yet been made. The upswing on Thursday shows investors remain willing to place bets on the overhang of uncertainty heading into the July FOMC meeting.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury spiked, dropping yields to 3.74% from Wednesday's 3.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered $2.12 to $70.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained 60 cents to $1,969.50 U.S. an ounce.