US close: Stocks rise as Biden doubles vaccine goal

Wall Street stocks managed a positive finish on Thursday, as a doubling of Joe Biden’s vaccination target outweighed comments from Fed chair Jerome Powell.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.62% at 32,619.48, as the S&P 500 added 0.52% to 3,909.52 and the Nasdaq Composite managed gains of 0.12% to 12,977.68.

The Dow closed 199.42 points higher on Thursday, reversing losses recorded on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at inevitably removing some of the stimulus measures that had boosted the market amid the pandemic.

Powell said congressional stimulus and accelerated vaccine distribution had afforded the economy the opportunity to bounce back faster than initially anticipated and stated that at some point, that would allow the central bank to begin pulling back on much of the help it had provided.

"As we make substantial further progress toward our goals, we'll gradually roll back the amount of Treasury [notes] and mortgage-backed securities we've bought," said Powell.

“We will very gradually over time and with great transparency, when the economy has all but fully recovered, we will be pulling back the support that we provided during emergency times.”

Late in the day, US president Joe Biden announced a new goal of 200 million Covid-19 vaccines being administered within his first 100 days in office.

That was a doubling of his previous goal for 100 million vaccinations, which was reached last Friday - 59 days into his administration.

On the macro front, the United States' real gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, ahead of the previous estimate and market expectation of 4.1%.

It came on the back of an upward revision to private inventory investment that was partly offset by a downward revision to non-residential fixed investment.

Also on investors' minds was news that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits had dropped to 684,000 in the week ended 20 March, according to the Labor Department.

That was the lowest reading since the Covid-19 pandemic annihilated the labour market 12 months ago, and well below market expectations of 730,000.

Elsewhere, March's Kansas Fed manufacturing index rose to 26 from 24 in February, bang in line with analyst estimates.

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $247.19 3.32%
American Express Co. (AXP) $142.28 2.79%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $152.78 2.34%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $63.13 1.93%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $133.07 1.88%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $50.51 1.73%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $297.18 1.51%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $224.25 1.37%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $152.55 1.28%
3M Co. (MMM) $193.10 1.26%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $128.64 -3.39%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $205.44 -1.95%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $232.34 -1.33%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $76.07 -0.22%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $51.71 -0.14%
Visa Inc. (V) $207.97 -0.05%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $62.02 -0.03%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $162.23 0.04%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $224.06 0.07%

S&P 500 - Risers

TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $54.11 11.11%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $144.90 8.19%
Macy's Inc. (M) $16.43 7.67%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $37.44 6.45%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $35.40 5.80%
Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $8.59 5.79%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $57.27 5.72%
Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS) $111.86 5.30%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $174.66 5.13%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $28.73 5.01%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Discovery Inc. Class A (DISCA) $57.75 -6.76%
Discovery Inc. Class C (DISCK) $51.04 -6.42%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $502.86 -3.45%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $128.64 -3.39%
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (JEF) $31.57 -2.95%
Msci Inc. (MSCI) $412.55 -2.83%
Baker Hughes Company Class A (BKR) $21.53 -2.45%
Resmed Inc. (RMD) $187.53 -2.42%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $398.13 -2.13%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $637.79 -2.11%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $174.66 5.13%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $22.77 4.40%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $273.97 3.12%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $118.99 3.04%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,268.91 3.00%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $98.38 2.84%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $39.20 2.54%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $11.75 2.53%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $346.34 2.46%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $128.10 2.33%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $204.57 -14.47%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $502.86 -3.45%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $398.13 -2.13%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $637.79 -2.11%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $232.34 -1.33%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $3,046.26 -1.32%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $372.39 -1.30%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $71.05 -1.29%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $174.78 -1.22%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $278.74 -1.21%