NEW YORK, Aug 9 ― US stocks jumped yesterday, led by a more than 2 per cent gain in technology shares, while better-than-expected economic data in the United States and China helped to offset worries about the trade war.
The S&P 500 technology sector, which was at the heart of the recent selloff, provided the biggest boost to the benchmark S&P 500 index, which was on course for its third day of gains.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc gained 14.7 per cent after the chipmaker launched its second generation of processor chip and said that it had landed Alphabet Inc's Google and Twitter Inc as customers.
Symantec Corp jumped 11.6 per cent after sources said chipmaker Broadcom Inc was in advanced talks to buy the cybersecurity company's enterprise business.
“The overnight action was positive. That, along with the bounceback yesterday, gave us a nice tailwind coming into the market today, both for high-frequency traders who were buying the trend and also for bargain hunters who had seen stocks that were on the watchlist come down to a level that looked attractive,” said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.
“So we've seen a lot of the tech names pop after they got hammered. There's money coming back into those because investors have decided it created an opportunity.”
US data pointed to a robust labour market as the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, allaying some worries about a recession and helping US Treasury yields rise.
That followed better-than-expected export numbers out of China and some improvement for the country's yuan currency, whose slide over the weekend spurred Wall Street's worst day so far this year on Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 285.32 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 26,292.39, the S&P 500 gained 45.67 points, or 1.58 per cent, to 2,929.65 and the Nasdaq Composite added 154.78 points, or 1.97 per cent, to 8,017.61.
On the down side, Kraft Heinz sank after it pulled its full-year forecast and wrote down the value of several business units by over US$1 billion, capping a rough few months for the company.
Lyft Inc advanced 4.1 per cent after the ride-hailing service raised its annual outlook and hinted at the end of its price war with Uber Technologies Inc. Uber, due to report after the bell and a high-profile loser since its market launch this year, rose 7.5 per cent.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 4.32-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.52-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 77 new highs and 84 new lows. ― Reuters
