Markets
Dow Jones up, Nasdaq rallies as Powell stresses on a more robust recovery
The S&P 500 hit a new high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed on Thursday, amid higher-than-expected jobless claims as Fed Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell called the recovery from the pandemic “uneven”.
The Nasdaq rallied 0.9%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.4% and the Dow Jones industrials edged 0.1% higher in the market today.
Apple, Microsoft, and Salesforce, up about 1.5% each, were the biggest Dow Jones winners. Security software maker Okta surged nearly 8% in heavy trade as Tesla held a 1.3% gain after rallying nearly 3% on early Thursday.
The sports-streaming service FuboTV stock popped 6.5% after the company it has acquired exclusive streaming rights for the South American Qatar World Cup 2022 qualifying matches.
Blue-chip losers included Travelers, Nike, and Chevron down about 1.5% each. Bitcoin was up 3.3% to $58,058 in afternoon trade, as The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust rose by 4%.
The major averages are set to end the week higher. The Dow is up nearly 1.6% this week. The S&P 500 has gained more than 1.9% since Monday. The Nasdaq Composite has rallied more than 2.5% heading into Friday.
Early Thursday, the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims rose to 744,000 the week ended April 3. That was higher than the prior week’s 728,000 claims and forecasts for a second straight decline to 680,000.
Key market indexes held steady as Powell stressed the importance of global Covid-19 vaccinations during an International Monetary Fund virtual debate on the global economy.
“Until the world really is vaccinated, we’re all going to be at risk of new mutations and we won’t be able to really resume activity with confidence all around the world,” Powell said.
He also reiterated the U.S. central bank’s stance on its asset purchase program, saying it will be looking at inflation and “the indicators of maximal employment.”
Despite the strength of some indicators, the recovery remains incomplete, as reflected in the latest unexpectedly high U.S. jobless claims.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department on Thursday added seven Chinese supercomputing entities to a U.S. economic blacklist citing national security concerns.
The department added Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, Sunway Microelectronics, the National Supercomputing Center Jinan, the National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen, the National Supercomputing Center Wuxi, and the National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou to its blacklist.
The seven entities were blacklisted for “building supercomputers used by China’s military actors, its destabilizing military modernization efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction programs.”
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