US close: Stocks rebound from Wednesday's losses

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Wall Street stocks closed positive on Thursday, bouncing back from some heavy losses in the previous session.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.02% at 34,707.94, as the S&P 500 added 1.43% to 4,520.16 and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 1.93% at 14,191.84.

The Dow closed 349.44 points higher on Thursday, reversing at least some of the losses recorded by the blue-chip index a day earlier.

“In regards to the Russia invasion of Ukraine, the conflict is still ongoing sadly, but there hasn’t been any major developments with respect to Western governments taking aim at Russia,” said Equiti Capital market analyst David Madden.

“Traders are more focused on the economic war between the West and Moscow, rather than the actual war in Ukraine.”

Madden noted that global leaders met on Thursday to discuss advancing their policy against the Russian government, but as serious action was announced, stock markets were in the green.

“Indices in the US are in better shape, as America is less exposed to the war in Eastern Europe.”

Market participants were continuing to monitor events in Eastern Europe early on Thursday, with NATO leaders meeting in Brussels to discuss increasing pressure on Moscow as Ukraine appeared to be retaking ground in the war with its neighbour.

On the macro front, initial unemployment claims dropped by 28,000 over the week ended 19 March to hit 182,000, according to the Labor Department, better than the 215,000 expected by analysts.

The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out the variations in the figures from one week to the next, fell by 11,500 to 211,750, while secondary jobless claims slid by 67,000 to 1.35m.

Elsewhere, orders for goods made to last more than three years dropped unexpectedly last month, albeit principally due to a large decline in the oft-volatile orders for civilian aircraft.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally-adjusted terms, durable goods orders shrank at a month-on-month pace of 2.2% in February to reach $189.94bn.

Finally, the US economy was firing on all cylinders in March, according to the results of two surveys, with IHS Markit's services sector purchasing managers' index hitting an eight-month high of 58.9, up from 56.5 in the previous month, while its manufacturing PMI rose from 57.3 to 58.5.

In the corporate space, Spotify Technology managed gains of 0.46% after the music streaming giant struck a deal with Google to allow it to offer its own billing on Android devices.

Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants reversed earlier losses to close up 1.12%, despite posting softer-than-expected earnings before the open.

Uber Technologies jumped 4.96% after reports it had struck a deal with New York City authorities to list all of the city’s taxis in its ride-hailing app.

On the downside, housebuilder KB Home slid 4.58% after it missed expectations in its latest numbers, with labour and supply chain issues affecting completions.

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $51.62 6.94%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $174.07 2.27%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $513.67 2.03%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $240.21 1.75%
Boeing Co. (BA) $189.05 1.62%
American Express Co. (AXP) $188.89 1.54%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $304.10 1.54%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $184.30 1.43%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $214.00 1.36%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $64.09 1.25%