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Wall Street closed higher on Thursday, pulled up by tech and discretionary stocks. Hotter-than-expected producer-side inflation numbers and the newly unveiled tariff plans by President Trump helped boost the market. All of the three most widely followed indexes closed the session in the green.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.8%, or 342.87 points, to close at 44,711.43. Twenty six components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while four ended in negative.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 295.69 points, or 1.5%, to close at 19,945.64.
The S&P 500 gained 63.10 points, or 1%, to close at 6,115.07. All of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) added 1.7%, 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 5% to 15.10. A total of 15.3 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 15 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 3.7-to-1 ratio on the S&P 500.
Pause in Tariff Announcements Boosts Markets
On Thursday, President Trump effectively put his reciprocal tariff plan into motion by directing his economics team to devise plans for taxing U.S. imports. The targeted countries include China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union. Trump’s choice for commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said that the administration would address each affected country one by one and studies on the issue would be completed by April 1.
Wall Street, having already priced in these tariff announcements and the probability of resultant inflation, rejoiced at the fact that fresh tariffs were not being imposed and only the already announced ones were being acted upon. There is a consensus that this pause in announcing further tariffs will result in the Ubited States working with its trading partners to bring down trade barriers.
Per the Department of Labor, the Producer Price Index (PPI) for January rose 0.5%, while the number for December remained unchanged at 0.2%. Core PPI rose 0.1% in the same period, as opposed to the revised 0.2% increase in December.
The Department of Labor also reported that initial claims decreased by 7,000 to 213,000 for the week ended Feb. 8 from the previous week's revised level. Last week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 219,000 to 220,000. The 4-week moving average was 216,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average. The prior week's average was revised up by 250 from 216,750 to 217,000.
Continuing claims through the week ending Feb.1 was 1,850,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 1,886,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,871,500, a decrease of 750 from the last week's unrevised average of 1,872,250.
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Stock Market News for Feb 14, 2025
Wall Street closed higher on Thursday, pulled up by tech and discretionary stocks. Hotter-than-expected producer-side inflation numbers and the newly unveiled tariff plans by President Trump helped boost the market. All of the three most widely followed indexes closed the session in the green.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.8%, or 342.87 points, to close at 44,711.43. Twenty six components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while four ended in negative.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 295.69 points, or 1.5%, to close at 19,945.64.
The S&P 500 gained 63.10 points, or 1%, to close at 6,115.07. All of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) added 1.7%, 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 5% to 15.10. A total of 15.3 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 15 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 3.7-to-1 ratio on the S&P 500.
Pause in Tariff Announcements Boosts Markets
On Thursday, President Trump effectively put his reciprocal tariff plan into motion by directing his economics team to devise plans for taxing U.S. imports. The targeted countries include China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union. Trump’s choice for commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said that the administration would address each affected country one by one and studies on the issue would be completed by April 1.
Wall Street, having already priced in these tariff announcements and the probability of resultant inflation, rejoiced at the fact that fresh tariffs were not being imposed and only the already announced ones were being acted upon. There is a consensus that this pause in announcing further tariffs will result in the Ubited States working with its trading partners to bring down trade barriers.
Consequently, shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD - Free Report) and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) added 3.9% and 3.2%, respectively. NVIDIA currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
Per the Department of Labor, the Producer Price Index (PPI) for January rose 0.5%, while the number for December remained unchanged at 0.2%. Core PPI rose 0.1% in the same period, as opposed to the revised 0.2% increase in December.
The Department of Labor also reported that initial claims decreased by 7,000 to 213,000 for the week ended Feb. 8 from the previous week's revised level. Last week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 219,000 to 220,000. The 4-week moving average was 216,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average. The prior week's average was revised up by 250 from 216,750 to 217,000.
Continuing claims through the week ending Feb.1 was 1,850,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 1,886,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,871,500, a decrease of 750 from the last week's unrevised average of 1,872,250.