Wall Street Rallies As Economic Concerns Recede, Tech Flexes Its Muscles, Semiconductors Soar: What's Driving Markets Thursday?

Zinger Key Points
  • Investor sentiment improves significantly on Thursday, with all major indices and sectors in the green.
  • Weekly jobless claims dropped to 233,000, easing recession fears and reflecting temporary factors such as Hurricane Beryl.

Investor risk sentiment is showing greater conviction on Thursday, with all indices and major stock sectors in the green, after Wall Street failed to hold onto opening gains and closed in the red the previous day.

Weekly jobless claims numbers, which came in at 233,000 last week — a significant drop from the previous 250,000 and below the expected 240,000 — helped ease recession fears.

Additionally, the notable decline in weekly claims in Texas suggests that a one-off event like Hurricane Beryl might have contributed to the increase in claims and the July unemployment rate, thus alleviating fears of a more structural trend.

Technology stocks are leading the charge, with the Nasdaq 100 showcasing a 2.2% rally. Among tech stocks, semiconductors are shining, with AI-linked trade back on track after significant sell-offs in recent days.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX rallied 5.7%, returning above its 200-day moving average after falling below it last Friday. Industrial, consumer discretionary and energy stocks are also posting significant gains.

The dollar continues its recovery against the Japanese yen after being hit by the unwinding of the carry trade until Monday. The dollar-yen exchange rate is looking at its third consecutive day of gains, continuing to reflect the dovish remarks made by the Bank of Japan on Wednesday.

Bonds, which alongside the yen were favored during past sessions marked by recession fears, are now retracing as yields rise across the Treasury curve. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT tumbled by 0.8% on Thursday, eyeing its third straight session of declines. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note surged by 5 basis points to 4%.

Commodities are showing solid gains, with gold and silver up by 1.5% and 3.5%, respectively. Oil is up 0.8%, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude returning above the $75 per barrel level.

Cryptocurrencies are soaring, with Bitcoin BTC/USD posting a 7.9% daily gain, on track for its best session in about three months.

Thursday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

Major IndicesPrice1-day %chg
Nasdaq 10018,267.702.2%
S&P 5005,285.211.6%
Russell 20002,063.971.5%
Dow Jones39,231.861.2%
Updated at 12:44 p.m. ET

According to Benzinga Pro data:

  • The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 1.7% to $527.46.
  • The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA increased by 1.2% to $392.63.
  • The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ soared 2.4% to $445.17.
  • The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM gained 1.7% to $205.38.
  • All the sectors of the S&P 500 saw gains, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK leading the way, up by 2.8%. The more defensive Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU witnessed the lowest surge, up by 0.4%.

Thursday’s Stock Movers

Technology stocks rallying on improved risk sentiment are:

  • Arm Holdings ARM up 7.8%,
  • ON Semiconductor Corporation ON up 7.1%,
  • Microchip Technology Incorporated MCHP up 6.2%,
  • Marvell Technology, Inc. MRVL up 6.1%,
  • KLA Corporation KLAC up 6%,
  • Super Micro Computer, Inc. SMCI up 5.9%

Stocks moving on earnings reports are:

  • AppLovin Corporation APP up 9.9%
  • Blink Charging Co. BLNK down 17%
  • Bumble Inc. BMBL down 31%
  • Cars.com Inc. CARS down 6%
  • CyberArk Software Ltd. CYBR up 7.2%
  • Fastly, Inc. FSLY down over 17%
  • Forward Air Corporation FWRD up nearly 22%
  • Hanesbrands Inc. HBI, up 15%
  • HubSpot, Inc. HUBS up 2.8%
  • Krispy Kreme, Inc. DNUT up 14,
  • Marathon Oil Corp MRO up 1.2%
  • Monster Beverage Corporation MNST down 11%
  • Papa John’s International, Inc. PZZA up 2.5%
  • PENN Entertainment, Inc. PENN up 7%
  • Plug Power Inc. PLUG down 0.5%
  • Restaurant Brands International Inc. QSR up 2.3%
  • Robinhood Markets, Inc. HOOD up 2.22%
  • Under Armor, Inc. UA up 18%
  • Viasat, Inc. VSAT up nearly 37%
  • Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. WBD down nearly 9%
  • Zillow Group, Inc. Z up nearly 19%.

Those reporting after the close are Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM, CarGurus, Inc. CARG, Dropbox, Inc. DBX, elf Beauty, Inc. ELF, Expedia Group, Inc. EXPE, Five9, Inc. FIVN, Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD, Insulet Corporation PODD, Paramount Global PARA, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. TTWO, Trade Desk, Inc. TTD, Unity Software Inc. U, and Yelp Inc. YELP.

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