Inflation Data Helps Dow Climb 300 Points
Stocks climbed on Thursday in a market rally that may still not be enough to put Nasdaq and the S&P 500 in the green for the week.
Quick overview
- Stocks rose on Thursday, with the Dow adding 300 points, buoyed by inflation data that met expectations.
- Investor confidence increased after President Trump backed away from aggressive plans regarding Greenland and tariffs on Europe.
- The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have shown gains, with retail stocks like Walmart performing well amid market volatility.
- AI-related stocks, particularly Micron Technology, have seen significant gains this week, recovering from earlier losses.
Stocks rose on Thursday as new inflation data released in line with expectations, allowing the Dow to add 300 points and putting the index in the green for the week after a rough start.
Investors felt more confident in the stock market this week after President Donald Trump backed away from some of his more aggressive Greenland plans, and the personal consumption expenditure price index for November revealed that inflation is at 2.8%.
This is what analysts expected for the index, and this is yet another piece of good news at a time when the market is in recovery. Stocks climbed higher Friday morning in premarket trading, and we could see the indices hit record highs by the end of the day.
Positive Factors abound in a Bull Market
The week started off with carryover bad news from Friday of the previous week, and Tuesday was a very poor day for major stocks. However, this situation reversed as Trump decided not to pursue tariffs on European countries and announced no invasion of Greenland. The market was further helped this week by a decent inflation reading. The core and headline PCE data was exactly what was expected by Wall Street, and the markets received a bump as a result.
Stocks have climbed for two consecutive sessions, with the S&P 500 up 0.55% and close to its record high. The Nasdaq gained 0.91% in the last session and is also around a record high, but both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are still below where they started the week. The losses on Tuesday were simply too severe for these indices to be very likely to end the week in the green.
Retail stocks have performed well this week, with Walmart (WMT) spiking on Tuesday when much for the market was extremely low. This indicates the retailer’s ability to draw investor interest during times of stock market volatility, thanks to its reliability and stability.
Target (TGT) rose 0.43% on Thursday but has fallen over the course of the week as investors jumped on technology stocks Wednesday and Thursday. Not all major retailers are handling this volatile week well, but this has been an excellent week for AI-related stocks. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM) rose 1.3% in premarket trading Friday and recovered well from Tuesday’s sharp drop that affected most of the market. Micron Technology (MU) has had an incredible week with impressive gains that moved the stock price from $336 per share to $392.
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