In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, traders Robert Charmak, left, and Orel Partush confer on the floor, Thursday, March 24, 2022. Stocks edged higher in morning trading on Wall Street as a streak of cautious trading continues on world markets. (Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
Technology companies led a broad rally for stocks on Wall Street Thursday, reversing most of the major indexes' losses from a day earlier and extending the market's recent run of uneven trading.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4%, more than making up for its pullback a day earlier. More than 85% of the stocks in the benchmark index rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 1.9%.
The latest gains pulled the S&P 500 out of the red for the week. The Nasdaq is also on pace for a weekly gain, while the Dow is down slightly for the week after the indexes alternated between gains and losses over the past few days.
“There’s a little bit of tug-of-war right now ... and investors are just looking for direction,” said Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer for wealth & investment management at Wells Fargo.
The S&P 500 rose 63.92 points to 4,520.16, while the Dow gained 349.44 points to 34,707.94. The Nasdaq climbed 269.23 to 14,191.84.
Small company stocks also rallied. The Russell 2000 rose 23.24 points, or 1.1%, to 2,075.44.
Technology stocks accounted for the biggest share by far of the gains in the S&P 500, followed closely by communication companies. Many Big Tech companies have outsized values that tend to sway the broader market in either direction. Chipmaker Nvidia vaulted 9.8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. Facebook parent, Meta, rose 2.9%.
Health care stocks also had some of the strongest gains. Insurers UnitedHealth Group rose 2% and Anthem gained 2.5%.
Stocks indexes have been up-and-down after coming off a strong rally last week. Investors are trying to gauge how the economy and corporate profits will be affected this year as the Federal Reserve moves to raise interest rates in order to tame surging inflation.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has added more uncertainty to the global economic outlook, driving energy and other commodity prices higher. The fluctuation in energy prices has been one factor pushing and pulling the broader stock market.
Crude oil prices slipped Thursday after jumping a day earlier. U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 2.3% to settle at $112.34 per barrel. A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2.1% to settle at $119.03. Overall, global oil prices are up more than 50% in 2022 on persistently rising inflation and concerns about crimped supplies because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Investors around the world had their eye on NATO and European leaders, which held a summit Thursday. G-7 nations are restricting the Russian Central Bank’s use of gold in transactions and the U.S. announced new sanctions against Russian individuals and entities.
Dozens of nations, including the U.S. and much of Europe, say they’re united in seeking to “radically” reduce imports of Russian oil and gas.
Sanctions have so far gutted the Ruble's value and prompted Russia's stock exchange to close nearly a month ago. The exchange reopened Thursday under heavy restrictions to prevent the kind of massive selloff that occurred in anticipation of crushing financial and economic sanctions from Western nations.
Wall Street is monitoring the latest developments on the conflict as it tries to determine how much it could worsen inflation and potentially crimp global economic growth. Businesses and consumers have been facing increasing costs for materials and goods which has prompted central banks to raise interest rates in order to temper the impact from inflation.
Bond yields have been rising overall as the market prepares for higher interest rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.36% from 2.31% late Wednesday.
“Markets are clearly signaling a deceleration in GDP growth and earnings growth,” Cronk said.
Investors received an encouraging update on the labor market's continued recovery. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in 52 years. The upbeat report adds to data earlier this month that showed employers added a robust 678,000 jobs in February, the largest monthly total since July.
U.S. automakers are saying that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, is affecting their production lines. Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive warns that the disruption "couldn't come at a worst time," amid chip and labor shortages in Detroit.
AND DETROIT-BASED AUTO MAKERS SAY THEY ARE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS OR SCALING BACK PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF PARTS SHORTAGES.
Sonos reported better than expected Q1 earnings amid chip shortage with the release of its Roam product. CFO Brittany Bagley joined Cheddar News to discuss the smart speaker maker's successful report and its plans to hit its 2024 targets as people leave their homes as pandemic restrictions ease. "Even as people head out in the world, it doesn't mean they don't like to listen to music at home or watch a streaming movie at home," she said. "So there's still a real role for us and our products in peoples lives, sort of, no matter what else they're doing."
Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE Group, explains why investors at the New York Stock Exchange should still feel confident despite the recent Wall Street volatility and discusses the landscape for 2022 when it comes to IPOs and retail investors.
The merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery received Justice Department approval on Wednesday, and Patty Hirsch, EVP of consumer and digital platforms at WarnerMedia, joined Cheddar News to discuss current and future offerings from the media conglomerate that will control both HBO Max and Discovery+. "Content really drives so much, and CNN has always had a very long history of creating an incredible documentaries, incredible content … and this service I think is going to ultimately provide the kind of content consumers want and the kind of content that consumers are going are going to pay for," she said. Hirsch also discussed NFTs in use through its Turner Sports and DC brands.
Black entrepreneurs lead the way in the creation of new businesses, but they often cannot get the necessary funding to get their business off the ground. The Fearless Fund is on a mission to change that, and help Black business owners get venture capital. The fund also offers a unique grant program meant to help entrepreneurs with growth, peer coaching, and more, including grants between $10,000 and $20,000. Arian Simone, Co-Founder and General Partner of Fearless Fund, joins Closing Bell to discuss the Fund's mission, how it helps Black entrepreneurs, and more.
Multinational food company Kellogg’s reported an earnings beat amid supply chain issues and an extended labor strike. Kellogg’s Chairman and CEO c joined Cheddar News to discuss overcoming the obstacles and what's to come for the company. "The first half of the year is really going to be one about rebuilding inventory, and into the second quarter, starting to reestablish promotional activity for our customers and our consumers," Cahillane said. "And then the back half of the year, obviously, we're really much more back in business, and we expect to exit the year with our business in cereal being just as strong as it's ever been."
Sting has sold his catalog of more than 600 songs for $300 million to Universal Music. The deal gives the label the rights to all of his work, including “Every Breath You Take," as well as all future royalties.
Miller Lite is opening the first branded bar in the metaverse, by way of Decentraland, as a way to advertise during the Super Bowl this year without buying an expensive TV commercial slot. Sofia Colucci, global vice president of Miller Family of Brands, joined Cheddar to talk about the new marketing concept. "We have a lot of great partnerships with NFL teams throughout the year but were shut out of advertising during the Super Bowl game, so this pushes us to think creatively and also think of what feels really relevant right now," Colucci said. "There's no question that there's a lot of excitement with the metaverse, and we wanted to participate but in a way that felt right for Miller Lite."
Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
Jason Moser, Senior Analyst at The Motley Fool, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to talk about the big takeaways from Disney's Q1 report, which showed the company nearing 130 million Disney+ subscribers as parks revenue ticks up.
