US stocks rose on Thursday as investors shrugged off weak guidance from Microsoft and raised concerns about the Federal Reserve’s rate hike.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 195 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 rose 1.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ticked up nearly 2%. Three indexes are coming down for two consecutive days.
Thursday saw another rocky session on Wall Street, with the stock average swinging between gains and losses. The Dow was down more than 300 points at session lows.
Barry Bannister, Stifel Chief Equity Strategist, said.
Meanwhile, shares of Microsoft fell nearly 1% as the company warned revenue and earnings would fall short of analysts’ estimates for the quarter. The stock weighed on the Dow.
Other technology names have extended and amplified the Nasdaq. Nvidia grew by more than 6%, Zoom by about 3%, and Tesla by about 7%.
Meta platform surges nearly 4% higher a day after Sheryl Sandberg announced Step down from his role as Chief Operating Officer,
Traders also analyzed through corporate earnings results. Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell nearly 6% after minor misses in both earnings and revenue. Meanwhile, shares of pet retailer Chevy were up nearly 20% after the company reported strong quarterly results.
slow job growth
Investors are eyeing employment figures which are showing slowest job creation pace For pandemic-era recovery. Private sector employment grew by just 128,000 in May, the ADP reported on Thursday, well below the 299,000 Dow Jones estimate. In another report Thursday, initial jobless claims fell last week and fell short of expectations, according to the Labor Department.
The closely watched jobs report for May is due for release on Friday morning. Economists expect 328,000 non-farm jobs were added in the latest month, compared to 428,000 in April.
The S&P 500 and Dow are both marginally lower this week, while the Nasdaq is up slightly in the week.
“Our outlook is cautious as we close out the second quarter,” said Rob Howarth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management. “Global central bank uncertainty and tighter monetary policy momentum, still tight global energy … markets – which could still lead to higher prices – and headwinds to corporate earnings growth pose risks to investors going forward.”