US stocks rise, Traders watch Treasury yields

Stocks rose Thursday, as Wall Street tried to regain some of this month’s steep losses and traders kept an eye on Treasury yields.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 116.07 points, or 0.35 per cent to 33,666.34. The S&P 500 added 0.59 per cent to 4,299.70 — just shy of the key 4,300 level. The Nasdaq Composite jumped about 0.83 per cent to 13,201.28.

Intel and Cisco Systems rose 1.6 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively, lifting the Dow. Meta platforms gained 2 per cent.

Chico's FAS Inc stock surged by over 60 per cent following the announcement of its acquisition. Sycamore Partners, a retail-focused private equity firm, is acquiring Chico's in a cash takeover deal valued at $1 billion, offering Chico's shareholders $7.60 per share.

Nike's quarterly revenue fell slightly below expectations at $12.9 billion, missing projections of $13 billion, but this was overshadowed by the company's stronger-than-expected earnings of 94 cents per share compared to the consensus estimate of 76 cents per share.

The major averages got a boost as Treasury yields eased from multiyear highs. Stocks have struggled lately with rising yields and the prospects of higher interest rates for longer than expected.

The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury hit a fresh 15-year high as data out Thursday showed a still-resilient labour market with jobless claims coming in lower than expected. The benchmark rate retreated from that level later in the day.

The stock market has been taking its cues from the bond market lately with any surge in rates raising worries about a recession and sending equities to new lows. The S&P 500 hit the lowest level since June this week as the 10-year yield hit its highest since 2007.

Investors will turn their attention to the latest personal consumption expenditures price index reading due Friday. The PCE reading is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric.

Turning to commodities, the governments of Canada and France have agreed to boost their critical minerals cooperation in order to achieve net-zero emission targets. The agreement aims to achieve various objectives including securing critical minerals supplies, mutual collaboration in industrial and academic R&D, and improving global ESG standards. Recall that Canada announced a similar deal with Japan last week to build sustainable and reliable global battery supply chains.

Overall, all sectors except for Utilities closed higher overnight. Communication Services was the best performer, largely due to the gains made by Meta Platforms.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.64 per cent rise.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7:20 AM was buying 64.29 US cents.

Commodities

Gold has lost 0.65 per cent. Silver has gained 0.07 per cent. Copper has risen 1.97 per cent. Oil has fallen 2.10 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE gained 0.11 per cent, Frankfurt gained 0.70 per cent, and Paris closed 0.63 per cent lower.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 1.54 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.36 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.1 per cent higher.

The Australian share market closed 0.08 per cent lower at 7,024.76.

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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