Stocks rose on Thursday as investors continued to shake off a tough start to September and bought the dip in tech stocks in anticipation of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial index reversed earlier losses and picked up 235.33 points to close at 41,097.04.
The S&P 500 index gained 41.66 points to 5,595.79. The much-broader index has cut its September losses to just 0.9% and sits just about 1.3% from a new record.
The NASDAQ hiked 174.15 points, or 1%, to 17,569.68.
Shares of megacap tech and semiconductor names continued to rally on Thursday, boosting the market during afternoon trading. Artificial intelligence powerhouse Nvidia jumped 2.5%, while Alphabet gained 2% and Facebook parent Meta Platforms improved 2.6%.
The latest producer price index, which measures the average change in prices businesses receive for their goods and services, reflected a 0.2% rise in wholesale prices in August. That’s in line with expectations.
Weekly jobless claims data released Thursday also reflected a marginal increase in the number of individuals filing for unemployment benefits, rising to 230,000 for the week ending on Sept. 7.
The report follows consumer inflation data released Wednesday — which an uptick in core prices. These strip out volatile food and energy categories. The reading spooked investors hoping for a half-percentage point cut from the Federal Reserve at its meeting next week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields up to 3.68% from Wednesday’s 3.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.92 to $69.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $44.90 to $2,587.30.
