Strong earnings reports help US stocks make major gains on Thursday. Stocks across the banking and tech sector registered major gains. Falling jobless numbers added fuel to the rally.
On Thursday, October 14, US stocks rallied amid strong earnings reports coming from multiple companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX: .DJI) gained 1.56% or 534 points closing at 34,912 levels.
Similarly, the S&P 500 (INDEXSP: .INX) gained 1.71% gaining 74 points and closing at 4438 levels. Besides, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC) also registered strong gains jumping 250 points and closing at 14,823 levels.
On Thursday, some top companies like UnitedHealth, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Bank of America, and others delivered better-than-expected earnings reports. The Q3 earnings season has sparked up excitement at Wall Street.
Eight members of the S&P 500 reported their earnings on Thursday morning with all of them beating Street expectations. In a note on Thursday, Mark Haefele, chief investment officer of UBS Global Wealth Management, said:
“So far, the overwhelming majority of large US companies have been able to generate higher profitability despite rising labor costs because sales growth has been so robust. We expect the same to be true in 3Q”.
The Top Performers at Dow Jones on Thursday amid Earnings Season
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA) was one of the top-performers at Dow Jones gaining 7.4% and closing at $50.77. The drug stores chain announced a $5.2 billion investment in primary-care company VillageMD thereby becoming a majority owner. It also announced that the company would be making healthcare its next growth engine.
Post unveiling its better than expected quarterly results, the UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) also gained 4.15%. Interestingly, banks also posed a strong show on Thursday, October 14. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) gained the most with 4.52% gains followed by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) that gained 2.52% moving past $100.
Shares of Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) gained a moderate 0.8% while Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) stock tanked 1.6% despite announcing better-than-expected earnings.
Tech Stocks Find a Relief with Dropping Treasury Yields
After delivering a tepid performance for the last few weeks, technology stocks made strong gains on Thursday. Thanks to the dip in the 10-year Treasury Yield. This typically benefitted the high-growth companies operating in the tech space.
Big Tech stocks also offered support to the market rally. Giants like Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Google-parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) each gained 2%. Another positive sentiment for the market was lower-than-anticipated weekly jobs claims.
The unemployment insurance claims stood at 293,000 falling below 300,000 levels for the first time during the pandemic era. “We’re seeing fresh and welcome signs of improvement in the job market,” said Bankrate’s Mark Hamrick.
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
