Wall Street Stocks Surge on Eased Bond Yields and Tech Rally
Wall Street experienced a rally on Thursday as bond yields eased further and tech stocks rose. The S&P 500 increased by 1.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2% and the Nasdaq composite closed 1.4% higher.
The indexes are now poised to post a gain for the week, following a mixed start to September after mostly positive August results. Big tech and communication services stocks drove much of the rally, with their high valuations giving them significant influence over market direction.
Microsoft rose 2.7%, Apple gained 1%, and Meta climbed 3%. Nvidia also performed well after announcing its plan to buy Hugging Face for $13 billion.
Bond yields showed signs of stabilizing, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury dropping to 4.77% from 4.79% late Wednesday. The 2-year Treasury yield slid to 4.34% from 4.39%, although it remains significantly higher for the year.
The remarks of Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller may have contributed to investors' reduced expectations for a rate hike at the Fed's next policy meeting in two weeks. Waller stated that if new data shows inflation is cooling, he would be inclined to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged.