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Ahead of the jobs data on Friday, and in the midst of carefully watched testimony from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, US equities continued to rise on Thursday, with the S&P 500 reaching a new record high.
Once again, tech stocks led the way, as the Nasdaq increased by up to 1.5% and the S&P 500 climbed slightly more than 1% to close at a record high of 5,157.34, highest in two years. About 0.3% was gained by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
With a 1% rally, the S&P 500 reached its 16th all-time high this year. It erased the last of its losses from Monday and Tuesday, and it’s been on a fantastic run, on track for its 17th winning week in the last 19.
The last two sessions have seen an increase in stocks as the market evaluated Powell’s speech before lawmakers regarding the economy and monetary policy, which contained no unexpected or unfavourable information.
Powell essentially restated the central bank’s stance that it is not in a rush to loosen policy, even if he predicted rate cut this year. Insofar as inflation indicators continue to indicate ongoing cooling, the Fed Chair reaffirmed the central bank’s plans to reduce interest rates.
On the economic data front, the number of unemployment claims for the week ending March 2 remained constant at 217,000, while the number of continuing claims was slightly over 1.9 million, representing an increase of around 8,000 from the previous print.
Victoria’s Secret’s stock plunged over 30% among corporate investors after the lingerie brand’s sales forecast missed forecasts. Both days that Powell testified before legislators, stocks rose.
NFP print is expected to show some signs of cooling after a robust month of job gains shocked Wall Street last month. The monthly report from the Bureau of Labour Statistics is expected to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 200,000 in February while the unemployment rate remained flat at 3.7% from the previous month.
