US close: Stocks higher following data onslaught

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Thursday as major indices tried to get their recent rally back on track.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.91% at 38,773.12, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.58% to 5,029.73 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.30% firmer at 15,906.17.

The Dow closed 348.85 points higher on Thursday, building on gains recorded in the previous session.

Economic data was again the session's primary focus, with the New York Fed's Empire State manufacturing index surging to -2.4 in February from -43.7 in January, well and truly beating market forecasts for a reading of -15.

On another note, factory sector activity in the mid-Atlantic region improved significantly in February, the results of a closely followed survey revealed. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing sector gauge jumped from a reading of -10.6 in January to 5.2 for February. Economists had pencilled-in a reading of -8.0.

Elsewhere, Americans reined in their spending unexpectedly at the start of 2024. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales volumes dropped at a month-on-month pace of 0.8% in January to reach $695.78bn. That was on top of a two-tenths of a percentage point downward revision to the prior month's month-on-month gain to 0.4%.

Still on data, the US labour market continued to show only limited signs of easing during the previous week. According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms initial unemployment claims dropped by 8,000 over the week ended 10 February to reach 212,000. Economists had forecast a reading of 220,000. The four-week moving average meanwhile jumped by 5,750 to 218,500, while secondary unemployment claims, referencing the week that finished on 3 February, rose by 30,000 to reach 1.895m.

Finally, the National Association of Housebuilder's housing market index increased to 48 in February, the highest reading in six months, up from 44 in January to beat forecasts of 46.

In the corporate space, Cisco headed south after the tech giant revealed it would be making a swathe of layoffs and issued some weak forward sales projections, while Tripadvisor traded higher on the back of quarterly numbers that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $22.29 3.48%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $55.17 2.97%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $154.46 2.28%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $179.87 2.18%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $323.07 2.01%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $385.42 1.95%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $186.87 1.80%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $157.94 1.40%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $291.96 1.28%
Visa Inc. (V) $280.97 1.23%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.06 -2.43%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $406.56 -0.72%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $289.07 -0.34%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.05 -0.32%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $106.07 -0.26%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $183.86 -0.16%
3M Co. (MMM) $92.40 -0.04%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $59.39 0.19%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $169.23 0.41%

S&P 500 - Risers

TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $27.66 9.24%
CBRE Group Inc (CBRE) $94.30 8.53%
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) $52.04 7.23%
Sl Green Realty Corp. (SLG) $45.74 5.87%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $38.99 5.58%
Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) $66.71 5.52%
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE) $119.38 5.33%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $178.52 5.10%
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) $874.97 5.06%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $60.11 4.90%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $4.34 -8.05%
Rollins Inc. (ROL) $41.71 -5.72%
Deere & Co. (DE) $364.66 -5.23%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.74 -3.90%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $51.05 -3.11%
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $44.18 -3.07%
DaVita Inc (DVA) $119.87 -2.87%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $111.57 -2.81%
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) $222.13 -2.62%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.06 -2.43%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $1.03 10.14%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $200.45 6.22%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $20.42 3.97%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $146.07 3.79%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $33.86 3.64%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $19.28 3.54%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $22.29 3.48%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $138.53 2.75%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $88.30 2.66%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $75.50 2.47%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Hasbro Inc (HAS) $51.05 -3.11%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.06 -2.43%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $590.44 -2.35%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $143.94 -2.17%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $142.77 -2.17%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $295.67 -1.69%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $726.58 -1.68%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $93.22 -0.90%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $557.83 -0.87%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $406.56 -0.72%