US markets end higher on Thursday

03 May 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as traders seemed to breathe a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Traders have recently expressed some concerns the Fed's next monetary policy move could actually be an interest rate hike rather than a cut, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell post-meeting remarks seem to have alleviated those worries. On the sectoral front, transportation stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, resulting in a 2.5 percent spike by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. Substantial strength also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Retail stocks also showed a significant move to the upside as the day progressed, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index up by 2.0 percent.

On the economic data front, new orders for U.S. manufactured goods surged in line with street estimates in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department. The Commerce Department said factory orders shot up by 1.6 percent in March after jumping by a downwardly revised 1.2 percent in February. Street had expected factory orders to spike by 1.6 percent compared to the 1.4 percent surge originally reported for the previous month. The sharp increase in factory orders came as durable goods orders soared by 2.6 percent in March after climbing by 0.7 percent in February. Orders for transportation equipment led the way higher, skyrocketing by 7.8 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 322.37 points or 0.85 percent to 38,225.66, Nasdaq surged 235.48 points or 1.51 percent to 15,840.96 and S&P 500 was up by 45.81 points or 0.91 percent to 5,064.20.