US close: Dow claws back majority of Wednesday's losses

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks closed higher on Thursday as major indices reclaimed a significant chunk of the previous session's losses. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.62% at 42,175.11, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.40% to 5,745.37 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.60% firmer at 18,190.29.

The Dow closed 260.36 points higher on Thursday, clawing back most of yesterday's streak-snapping losses.

Thursday's primary focus was on a final reading of America's Q2 gross domestic product, which revealed US economic activity expanded by 3% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, with the Bureau of Economic Analysis confirming an earlier estimate, though GDP growth calculations from previous years were hiked up. The figures matched the secondary estimates reported a month ago, and confirmed that GDP growth accelerated strongly from an upwardly revised 1.6% expansion in the first quarter, which was the lowest growth rate since the second quarter of 2022.

Elsewhere on the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 21 September, according to the Department of Labor. Initial jobless claims dropped by 4,000 week-on-week to 218,000, below market expectations for an increase to 225,000 for the lowest reading in four months.

Still on data, new durable goods orders were relatively unchanged month-on-month in August, according to the Census Bureau, compared to the revised 9.8% surge in July, the highest seen in four years, and contrasting sharply with market expectations of a 2.6% drop.

On another note, US pending home sales sank 3% year-on-year in August, according to the National Association of Realtors, extending June's 8.5% decline.

Finally, the Kansas Fed's manufacturing activity index slumped to -18 in September, sharply lower than the previous month's reading of 6, the lowest reading in 14 months and significantly lower than expectations for a modest improvement to 9.

In the corporate space, shares in semiconductor giant Micron were higher after the group issued strong forward guidance overnight, while Costco earnings beat estimates after the bell but reported some lighter than expected quarterly revenues.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $54.71 3.56% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $391.30 3.36% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $8.52 3.27% 3M Co. (MMM) $139.60 2.08% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $319.10 1.99% Intel Corp. (INTC) $23.92 1.61% Nike Inc. (NKE) $89.39 1.58% Boeing Co. (BA) $154.58 1.55% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $95.20 1.36% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $497.17 1.18%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $79.92 -1.82% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $113.09 -1.43% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $141.99 -1.38% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $574.81 -0.26% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $209.82 -0.20% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $431.31 -0.19% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $236.26 -0.11% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $71.40 -0.07% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $396.70 -0.06% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%

S&P 500 - Risers

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $109.88 14.73% Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $100.73 10.01% Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $95.18 9.92% United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $58.85 8.76% Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $91.03 8.20% Celanese Corp. (CE) $139.90 7.53% Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $51.86 7.45% American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.79 7.18% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $70.46 6.76% Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $51.87 6.28%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $168.86 -6.46% FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $25.25 -5.85% ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $89.16 -5.85% Apache Corp. (APA) $23.15 -5.78% Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $37.87 -4.85% Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $29.69 -4.82% Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $1.11 -4.31% Halliburton Co. (HAL) $27.82 -3.67% Eog Resources Inc. (EOG) $120.29 -3.36% Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $25.87 -3.25%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $109.88 14.73% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $37.99 14.39% Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $56.68 10.96% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $102.56 9.09% Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $91.03 8.20% American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.79 7.18% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $70.46 6.76% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $209.61 6.23% Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $80.31 5.52% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $847.50 5.44%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,100.21 -1.46% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $711.43 -1.40% Tesla Inc (TSLA) $254.22 -1.09% Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $901.44 -0.77% Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $191.16 -0.71% Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $515.38 -0.49% PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $97.81 -0.32% Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $274.43 -0.30% eBay Inc. (EBAY) $63.94 -0.25% Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $10.04 -0.20%