Wall Street Rallies As Economic Concerns Recede, Tech Flexes Its Muscles, Semiconductors Soar: What's Driving Markets Thursday?

Author: Piero Cingari | August 08, 2024 01:19pm

Investor risk sentiment is showing greater conviction on Thursday, with all indices and major stock sectors in the green, after Wall Street failed to hold onto opening gains and closed in the red the previous day.

Weekly jobless claims numbers, which came in at 233,000 last week — a significant drop from the previous 250,000 and below the expected 240,000 — helped ease recession fears.

Additionally, the notable decline in weekly claims in Texas suggests that a one-off event like Hurricane Beryl might have contributed to the increase in claims and the July unemployment rate, thus alleviating fears of a more structural trend.

Technology stocks are leading the charge, with the Nasdaq 100 showcasing a 2.2% rally. Among tech stocks, semiconductors are shining, with AI-linked trade back on track after significant sell-offs in recent days.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SOXX) rallied 5.7%, returning above its 200-day moving average after falling below it last Friday. Industrial, consumer discretionary and energy stocks are also posting significant gains.

The dollar continues its recovery against the Japanese yen after being hit by the unwinding of the carry trade until Monday. The dollar-yen exchange rate is looking at its third consecutive day of gains, continuing to reflect the dovish remarks made by the Bank of Japan on Wednesday.

Bonds, which alongside the yen were favored during past sessions marked by recession fears, are now retracing as yields rise across the Treasury curve. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) tumbled by 0.8% on Thursday, eyeing its third straight session of declines. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note surged by 5 basis points to 4%.

Commodities are showing solid gains, with gold and silver up by 1.5% and 3.5%, respectively. Oil is up 0.8%, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude returning above the $75 per barrel level.

Cryptocurrencies are soaring, with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) posting a 7.9% daily gain, on track for its best session in about three months.

Thursday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Nasdaq 100	18,267.70	2.2%
S&P 500	5,285.21	1.6%
Russell 2000	2,063.97	1.5%
Dow Jones	39,231.86	1.2%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) rose 1.7% to $527.46.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) increased by 1.2% to $392.63.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) soared 2.4% to $445.17.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) gained 1.7% to $205.38.
• All the sectors of the S&P 500 saw gains, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) leading the way, up by 2.8%. The more defensive Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) witnessed the lowest surge, up by 0.4%.

Thursday’s Stock Movers

Technology stocks rallying on improved risk sentiment are:

• Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) up 7.8%,
• ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) up 7.1%,
• Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) up 6.2%,
• Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) up 6.1%,
• KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) up 6%,
• Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) up 5.9%

Stocks moving on earnings reports are:

• AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) up 9.9%
• Blink Charging Co. (NASDAQ:BLNK) down 17%
• Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) down 31%
• Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) down 6%
• CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYBR) up 7.2%
• Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY) down over 17%
• Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) up nearly 22%
• Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE:HBI), up 15%
• HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS) up 2.8%
• Krispy Kreme, Inc. (NASDAQ:DNUT) up 14,
• Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE:MRO) up 1.2%
• Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) down 11%
• Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) up 2.5%
• PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) up 7%
• Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) down 0.5%
• Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) up 2.3%
• Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) up 2.22%
• Under Armor, Inc. (NYSE:UA) up 18%
• Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) up nearly 37%
• Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) down nearly 9%
• Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) up nearly 19%.

Those reporting after the close are Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM), CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG), Dropbox, Inc. (NASDAQ:DBX), elf Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF), Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), Five9, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVN), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD), Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO), Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD), Unity Software Inc. (NYSE:U), and Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP).

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Photo: Shutterstock

Posted In: $BTC AKAM APP ARM BLNK BMBL CARG CARS CYBR DBX DIA DNUT ELF EXPE FIVN FSLY FWRD GILD HBI HOOD