Trader Fred DeMarco works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Stocks rose in morning trading on Wall Street Thursday as investors reviewed encouraging jobs market data and a strong batch of corporate earnings reports. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
A broad rally on Wall Street pushed stocks higher Thursday, nudging the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes to record highs.
The gains reversed the market's modest losses from a day earlier. Despite a choppy week of trading, the major indexes are on pace for weekly gains.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, eclipsing its previous all-time high set Tuesday. Technology stocks, retailers and other consumer-facing companies, and communications stocks helped lift the market. Banks made solid gains as long-term bond yields rose, which lenders rely on to charge higher interest rates on loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.21% from 1.18% late Wednesday. Only Health care and materials stocks fell.
Encouraging jobs data and a strong batch of corporate earnings reports helped put investors in a buying mood. Traders were also looking ahead to the government's latest monthly national jobs report Friday morning, which should provide insight into how the labor market is faring amid a surge in cases of the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant.
“You do have a little bit of trepidation and concern around how the Covid flareups are going to impact things,” said Andrew Mies, chief investment officer at investment advisory firm 6 Meridien. "I don't think that anybody has a great idea of what the magnitude of this could look like if we go out two or three weeks.”
The S&P 500 index rose 26.44 points to 4,429.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 271.58 points, or 0.8%, to 35,064.25. The Nasdaq climbed 114.58 points, or 0.8%, to 14,895.12.
Smaller company stocks outpaced the broader market in a sign that investors are feeling more confident about economic growth. The Russell 2000 rose 39.69 points, or 1.8%, to 2,236.01.
Wall Street got another glimpse of the recovering jobs market after the Labor Department reported that unemployment claims — a proxy for layoffs — dropped last week by 14,000. The generally encouraging report follows a weak report from payroll processor ADP on Wednesday showing that the private sector added jobs at a much slower pace than expected in July.
The labor market has lagged other areas of the economy during the recovery from the virus pandemic. Investors will get a more comprehensive picture on Friday when the Labor Department releases its July jobs report.
Investors also weighed another batch of earnings reports. Underwear maker Hanesbrands jumped 6.3% after reporting solid second-quarter financial results. Booking Holdings rose 5.9% after it reported solid revenue.
Several companies that benefited from the shift in consumer habits during the height of the pandemic slipped after releasing disappointing results or forecasts. Online crafts marketplace Etsy fell 9.7% after giving investors a weak sales forecast as more people return to shopping in person. Video-streaming service Roku shed 4% after active accounts and streaming hours fell short of analysts' forecasts.
Weber, the pioneering grill maker, jumped 17.9% in its stock market debut.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
