US stocks rose on Thursday, led by a rally in technology stocks, as investors tried to salvage the last two trading days of a brutal year for markets.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 1.7%, overcoming two days of losses, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) jumped nearly 350 points, or 1.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 2.6%. The moves come after all three major averages erased more than 1% in the previous trading session.
Large-cap tech giants Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) all gained 2.8%, helping lift the broader market after a sell-off over the past two days. This week’s risk-off trade sent Apple dipping below $130, which investors have pointed to as a key technical level. Meanwhile, Amazon became the third of the FAANG+ stocks, along with Meta (META) and Netflix (NFLX), to wipe out their pandemic gains and close below their March 2020 COVID low on Tuesday.
Netflix (NFLX) rallied 5.1%, from a seven-week low, on the heels of a two-step upgrade by CFRA analyst Kenneth Leon to Buy from Sell.
Investors continued to watch a rally in Tesla (TSLA) after the shares snapped a seven-day losing streak on Wednesday following a multi-session selloff on concerns about its factory closure in China. The shares rose 8.1% on Thursday.
Electric vehicle pairs Rivian (RIVN), Lucid (LCID) and Nio (NIO) rallied along with Tesla after electric carmakers came under pressure all week.
Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) shares plunged 14.5%, even as the egg producer reported fiscal second-quarter profit topped analysts’ estimates, with revenue up 110% from to last year as inflation and bird flu pushed up egg prices.
Elsewhere on Thursday, biotech company Kala Pharmaceuticals (KALA) soared 99%, extending a rise after shares quadrupled on Wednesday after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ) will accept the company’s investigational new drug application for the treatment of a rare eye disease.
On the economic data front, claims for unemployment insurance rose to 225,000 in the week ending Dec. 24 from the previous week’s reading of 216,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The impression came in part from the consensus estimates of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Elsewhere, oil extended a decline after its recent rally, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, the US benchmark, closing at $78.39 on Thursday.
US Treasury yields fell and the US dollar index also fell.
Selling pressures throughout December, fueled by concerns about rising interest rates and an impending economic downturn, have continued through the end of the month and affected the year-end seasonal rally that typically occurs in the last trading days of the year.
“Historically, many factors have driven the traditional environment that supports end-of-year stocks, including holiday bond investing, seasonal optimism among consumers and investors, and tax considerations,” said AXS Investments chief executive Greg Bassuk. , in a note. “However, with the dismal performance of 2022 stocks and bonds expected to drag into 2023, coupled with ongoing inflationary concerns, uncertain Fed policy, and ongoing geopolitical tensions, investors won’t get any Christmas present this year for their wallets”.
US and global stocks are still on pace for their worst drop since the 2008 financial crisis.
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Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc
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