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A perfect storm of fiscal stimulus out of China, stellar Micron earnings, and another wave of solid economic data were boosting the stock market on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 210 points, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 was up 0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite surged 1.3%. The S&P 500 was on track for another record close.
China’s stock market continued to rally, with the iShares MSCI China ETF up more than 8% in early morning trading. Reuters reported China plans to issue 2 trillion yuan (US$285 billion) in sovereign debt.
“The big news once again came out of China where the government said that it would undertake the necessary spending necessary to meet this year’s growth targets,” writes Bespoke Investment Group co-founder Paul Hickey.
Stocks with large businesses in China like Nike and luxury brands LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton were rallying.
Technology stocks also got a boost from Micron Technology’s earnings. The memory-chip firm saw shares surge because its earnings were strong and its outlook pleasantly surprised Wall Street.
If that wasn’t enough, the latest initial jobless claims came in below expectations.
“If there’s a problem in the labor market, it’s not showing up in the weekly jobless claims data,” writes Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. “As is always the case, though, the monthly jobs report will play a bigger role in defining market sentiment. But until there’s evidence to the contrary, numbers like this will likely keep soft-landing hopes alive and well.”
