The S&P 500 rose Thursday, as investors bet the worst of the regional bank crisis has passed.
Weekly jobless claims increased by 7,000 to 198,000, adding to hopes that the Federal Reserve could slow down its tightening campaign because the labor market is cooling.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent to its highest since March 7, bringing its gain from the benchmark’s March low during the height of bank fears to about 6 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7 per cent as tech stocks continued to see renewed investor interest.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded higher, adding 0.4 per cent.
Chip stocks such as AMD were among the market’s best performers. The VanEck Vector Semiconductor ETF climbed 1.4 per cent on Thursday, bringing its year-to-date gain to more than 28 per cent.
Also in tech, shares of Amazon and Apple were higher.
Tesla is looking to build a battery plant in the US, according to people familiar with the matter. Tesla representatives sought clarity on the Inflation Reduction Act rules that the Biden administration is finalising this week.
Whilst Ford heads in a completely different direction – announcing plans to invest in a $4.5bn battery materials plant in Indonesia alongside a Chinese mining group, the latest gamble by the US carmaker that drawing China into its supply chain for electric vehicles will not backfire in Washington.
In AI news, Elon Musk and other tech leaders signed an open letter calling on developers to “pause giant AI experiments.” The petition, which more than 1,000 AI experts have signed, warns that artificial intelligence poses “profound risks to society and humanity” and asks AI researchers to put their projects on ice for at least six months.
In Europe, real estate groups are on track for their worst month since the start of the pandemic, as investors bet that weeks of banking turmoil will tighten access to credit and send property valuations plummeting. The MSCI Europe Real Estate index of large and mid-cap property companies has tumbled close to its lowest level since early 2009 following a 24 per cent decline so far in March,
Overnight, all S&P500 sectors closed higher except for Financials. Real estate was the best performer, closely followed by Tech.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.5 per cent gain.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7:20 AM is buying 67.11 US cents..
Commodities
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.39 per cent gain.
Gold gained 0.7 per cent. Silver jumped 2.5 per cent. Copper rose 0.6 per cent and oil gained almost 1.9 per cent.
Figures around the globe
Across the Atlantic, European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE added 0.7 per cent, Frankfurt rose 1.3 per cent while Paris closed 1.1 per cent higher.
In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.6 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.7 per cent lower.
Yesterday, the Australian sharemarket closed 1.02 per cent higher at 7122.
Ex-dividends
Global Value Fund (ASX:GVF) is paying 3.3 cents fully franked
Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN ) is paying 13 cents fully franked
Metrics Income Opportunities Trust (ASX:MOT ) is paying 1.5 cents unfranked
Metrics Master Income Trust (ASX:MXT ) is paying 1.44 cents unfranked
Dividends payable
Ambertech (ASX:AMO)
Anglogold Ashanti (ASX:AGG)
Beach Energy (ASX:BPT)
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN)
Capitol Health (ASX:CAJ)
Credit Corp Group (ASX:CCP)
Data3 (ASX:DTL)
Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE)
EQT Holdings (ASX:EQT)
Gtn (ASX:GTN)
IDP Education (ASX:IEL)
IGO (ASX:IGO)
Joyce Corp (ASX:JYC)
Kelly Partners Group Holdings (ASX:KPG)
LaserBond (ASX:LBL)
Maggie Beer Holdings (ASX:MBH)
Monadelphous Group (ASX:MND)
Perpetual (ASX:PPT)
Peter Warren Automotive Holdings (ASX:PWR)
Prime Financial Group (ASX:PFG)
Silk Logistics Holdings (ASX:SLH)
SSR Mining Inc (ASX:SSR)
Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN)
Telstra Group (ASX:TLS)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
Disclaimer
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