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Technology Stocks Helped to Boost S&P 500

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, as well as S&P 500, reached impressive results for several days in a row, with mega-cap technology stocks driving the market higher as investors warmed to jobs data showing a stable U.S. economic recovery.

Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc,  led shares on the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq. The companies mentioned above account for a quarter of the S&P 500’s market capitalization.

Nvidia Corp, Tesla Inc, Moderna Inc also reached positive results on a day in which more stocks fell than advanced.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14.88 points or 0.4%, to 35,499.85. The S&P 500 added 13.13 points, or 0.30% to 4,460.83. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 51.13 points or 0.35% to 14,816.26.

 

Technology stocks on Thursday

Healthcare and technology reached the best results among S&P 500 sectors. Interestingly, the energy sector weighed the most on the market.

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits declined again last week as the economic recovery from the pandemic continued. Importantly, U.S. producer prices posted their largest annual increase in more than a decade last month. U.S. producer prices raised inflation concerns after the latest U.S. consumer price index reading signaled the pace appeared to be slowing. The data mentioned above reflect well-known supply chain challenges that will not alter Fed’s policy.

Trading volume declined, typical of August, as a stellar second-quarter earnings season winds down. Investors are not waiting for the Federal Reserve’s annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They are waiting for the Fed’s meeting to learn more about its plans.

Importantly, volume on the U.S. exchanges 8.31 billion shares, compared with about 9.55 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Micron Technology fell 6.4%, one of the biggest weights on the S&P 500. Morgan Stanley downgraded the company’s stock to “equal-weight”. Its decision had a negative impact on Micron Technology.

In terms of earnings-related moves, Baidu Inc’s U.S. shares dropped 3.2% even after the company posted upbeat quarterly revenue.

Palantir Technologies Inc gained 11.4% after the company forecast third-quarter sales above expectations.

Declining issues outperformed advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by a 1.18-to-1 ratio. In the case of Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1.34-to-1.



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