By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
(Reuters) – U.S. stocks resumed their climb on Thursday as demand for cheaper tech-related stocks and hopes of further coronavirus aid from the government overshadowed economic data that pointed to a choppy rebound.
Apple Inc, the biggest U.S. company by market capitalization, rose 1.8%, while Tesla Inc jumped 6.1%. Other heavyweights Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and Facebook Inc were among major boosts to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
Wall Street’s main indexes bounced on Wednesday from their biggest three-day rout since March, as investors returned to tech-focused stocks that are deemed insulated from the current economic downturn.
Market participants are also viewing the selloff as a bout of turbulence rather than the start of a longer slide.
“If (the stock market) today closes up, even if they’re small gains, that’s going to give more confidence back to Wall Street participants to feel more comfortable to get back in,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
The CBOE volatility index fell further away from a near three-month high hit at the start of a historically tumultuous September. Investors have also remained cautious as data paints a mixed picture of U.S. economic health.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 884,000 for the week ended Sept. 5, matching the number of applications received in the prior week as layoffs and furloughs persisted across industries.
A separate report showed U.S. producer prices rose slightly more than expected in August as the cost of services increased solidly, while underlying producer inflation continued to firm.
The U.S. Senate was set to vote later in the day on a significantly scaled back Republican coronavirus relief bill in what could be the final vote on fiscal aid in Congress before the Nov. 3 presidential and congressional elections.
At 10:05 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 189.31 points, or 0.68%, at 28,129.78, the S&P 500 was up 25.21 points, or 0.74%, at 3,424.17, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 147.29 points, or 1.32%, at 11,288.86.
Technology, financial and consumer discretionary sectors rose the most among major S&P sectors.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners more than 2-to-1 on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 11 new lows.
(Reporting by Medha Singh and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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