US stocks jumped on Thursday, setting the stage for fresh record highs. Investors welcomed a slew of updates, including solid US economic data, Micron’s (MU) upbeat earnings, and China’s pledges of more stimulus, while they waited to hear from Jerome Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.4%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) added 0.5% after both gauges slipped back from all-time highs in the prior session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the advance, surging about 1% amid a sharp spike in Micron’s shares.
Stocks are looking solidly positive again thanks to a triple dose of optimism for the AI trade, for the health of the US economy, and for China’s stimulus push, which could reverberate through US markets.
Nvidia (NVDA) supplier Micron lifted its next-quarter revenue forecast, citing robust demand for its memory chips used in AI data centers. Chip stocks Nvidia, AMD (AMD), ASML (ASML), and STMicro (STM) rose in the wake of the earnings report.
Also, a final update from the US government on second quarter GDP growth beat Wall Street expectations, while weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell to the lowest levels in four months.
Meanwhile, China’s top leaders signaled they are pulling out the stops to revive its moribund economy with new pledges to lift fiscal spending, halt the property crisis, and support the stock market. A big jump in mainland stocks set the CSI 300 (000300.SS) on track for its best week in a decade.
Helping the upbeat mood were growing expectations for another jumbo interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. Traders are pricing in 60% odds of a 0.5% move at its November meeting, versus 40% a week ago.
Read more: What the Fed rate cut means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Investors are waiting for Fed Chair Powell’s statement later to test those hopes, the highlight in a parade of Fed speakers on Thursday. Their comments will set the stage for Friday’s highly anticipated reading on the PCE index, the inflation metric preferred by the Fed.
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Oil tanks 3% on report Saudi Arabia vows more supply in December
Oil tanked more than 3% on Thursday after The Financial Times reported Saudi Arabia is determined to start unwinding voluntary production cuts starting December 1, even if it means lower crude prices.
On Thursday West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) fell to trade below $68 per barrel. Brent (BZ=F), the international benchmark price, also dropped below $71 per barrel.
OPEC+ has delayed bringing more barrels onto the market in an effort to support higher prices. The oil alliance led by Saudi Arabia has been losing market share to the US and other crude producing nations.
Last year the US produced record amounts of oil and natural gas.
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Stocks rise on strong economic growth data, chip stocks gain
US stocks rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) hitting an intraday record high following the release of a stronger-than-expected GDP print and upbeat earnings from Micron (MU) sending the chip sector higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.5%, while the S&P 500 added 0.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the markets higher, surging 1.2% as Micron shares rose.
Micron’s results helped lift the chip sector, including AI heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA), which rose more than 2% in early trading.
The latest economic data shows second quarter US gross domestic product (GDP) rose 3% year over year, a faster pace than Wall Street had expected.
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Fresh economic data comes in better than expected
The US economy grew at a 3% annualized pace in the second quarter, a faster pace than Wall Street had expected.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis’s third estimate of second quarter US gross domestic product (GDP) was unchanged from the second estimate, which showed 3% annualized growth. Economists had estimated the reading to show annualized growth of 2.9%. The third estimate for second quarter GDP confirms that economic growth was higher than the 1.4% annualized growth seen in the first quarter.
Separately, data from the US Labor Department released Thursday showed 218,000 unemployment claims were filed in the week ending Sept. 21, below Wall Street’s expectations for 223,000. This marked the lowest level of weekly claims since the middle of May.
Also out Thursday, durable goods orders for August were flat, better than the 2.6% decline Wall Street had expected.
