Global stocks rebounded on Thursday, pushing further into record territory, after the US Federal Reserve underscored its commitment to supporting the recovery in the world’s largest economy.
Technology was the main sector in the benchmark S&P 500, helping the blue chip index close 0.4% higher in New York City, adding to the record set a day earlier. Wall Street’s Nasdaq Composite, which is teeming with growth stocks whose valuations are flattered by falling interest rates, climbed 1%.
Investors looked beyond an increase in Unemployed Claims in the United States which came higher than expected, marking the second consecutive week of rising numbers. Weekly data highlighted the uneven trajectory of the labor market recovery after the non-agricultural wage bill Last week, the US economy created 916,000 jobs in March, exceeding economists’ expectations.
Charles Hepworth, chief investment officer at Gam Investments, said markets would likely become less focused on jobless claims “as vaccine rollout continues at a steady pace and companies are expected to rehire the lost workforce as the economy becomes less constrained by virus restrictions ”.
GameStop’s shares were beaten after the U.S. retailer named Ryan Cohen, its largest shareholder popular among the company’s fans on Reddit, as its next chairman. The shares jumped at the opening bell, but then fell to trade 4.3 percent lower for the day.
Thursday’s rise in tech stocks follows a modest rally in U.S. Treasuries that took the 10-year note yield from a 14-month high of 1.77% in March to around 1.62% . This has stalled massive selling in recent months as investors feared the Fed’s ultra-loose monetary policy, coupled with $ 1.9 billion in fiscal stimulus, could boost the economic recovery after the pandemic and trigger the crisis. ‘inflation.
The minutes of the central bank policy meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that Fed policymakers were largely optimistic about the chances of a sustained rebound in inflation and vowed to keep politics easy until Jobs recovers from its pandemic.
“These big mental readjustments by the market looking at growth prospects and what that would mean for inflation have been fully digested,” said April LaRusse, head of investment specialists at Insight Investment.
The European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.6% higher, pushing it above the save put Tuesday that wiped out its pandemic losses. The UK mid-cap FTSE 250 index reached its second top this week, up 0.4%, while its biggest peer, the FTSE 100, ended the session up 0.8%.
Gold climbed more than 1 percent to $ 1,756 per troy ounce, a one-month high, while the US dollar fell 0.5 percent against a basket of major currencies.
Stock traders have not been affected by the announcement of sweeping reform international corporate taxation proposed by the US administration which could lead to heavy tax bills for some multinationals.
Samy Chaar, chief economist at Lombard Odier, said pressure on profits from tax increases would be offset by the high level of stimulus stimulating demand. “If what happens on the fiscal front leads to more spending, it will be seen as a net positive in the end,” he added.
Asian stock markets closed largely in positive territory on Thursday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2 percent, Australia’s S&P ASX 200 climbed 1 percent, and China’s CSI 300 was up 0.2 percent. Japan’s Topix lost 0.8 percent.