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US stock markets saw significant gains on Thursday, May 27, after new economic data lifted investors’ spirits, with the S&P 500 gaining back over 80% of its losses since March 2020.
The S&P 500 was up 0.12% to 4,200.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.41% to 34,464.64. The NASDAQ Composite Index closed flat at 13,736.28, and the small-cap Russell 2000 ticked up 1.06% to 2,273.07.
Investors were upbeat after new labor market data showed that jobless claims fell to another record low, and separate economic data backed the earlier GDP projections of a 6.4% annual growth rate in the first quarter of 2021. Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 406,000 last week from 444,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department data showed.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have proposed US$928 billion in a new counteroffer to President Biden’s US$1.7 trillion infrastructure bill.
House Republicans and Democrats have been wrangling over the bill, central to President Biden’s economic reforms. It is still unclear whether they will settle their differences by the Memorial Day deadline set for the bill’s assent.
Energy major Royal Dutch Shell Plc said that it would appeal a Hague court’s order to cut its carbon emissions by 45% from the 2019 levels by 2030. Wednesday’s ruling may lead to significant disruption in its supplies in the coming months.
In other news from the corporate world, General Motors (GM) said it will restart the plants that have been laid idle due to the chip shortage. It said production of Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain to resume from next week. The stock was up nearly 3% after the news.
Ford Motor Co. (F) also has said that the semiconductor shortage is likely to improve later this year. In April, the Michigan-based company said that it might cut production by half in the second quarter if the situation does not improve. The stock was up 7% on Thursday.
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In stock market news, California-based fintech startup Acorns plans to go public through a SPAC merger with Pioneer Merger Corp. (PACX) in a US$2 billion deal. The merger to fetch Acorns around US$450 million. PACX stock was up 1.70% at the market close.
The industrial segment was among the top performers on the S&P 500 index. Boeing Co. (BA) and General Electric (GE) were the biggest gainers, with 3.87% and 7%, respectively.
Other gainers were financials, basic materials, and consumer cyclicals segments. Technology, utilities, and real estate segments pulled back.
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Top Gainers
Top performers on S&P 500 included General Electric Co (7.09%), Ford Motor Co (7.05%), Invesco Ltd (5.25%), and Aptiv PLC (5.24%). On NASDAQ, top performers were Vertex Energy Inc (124.16%), Rezolute Inc (40.31%), Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (25.57%), and Abraxas Petroleum Corp (23.98%). On Dow Jones, Boeing Co (3.87%), Honeywell International Inc (3.12%), Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (1.98%), and JPMorgan Chase & Co (1.56%) were the leaders.
Top Losers
Top laggards on S&P 500 included Dollar Tree Inc (-7.71%), eBay Inc (-3.14%), Pinnacle West Capital Corp (-2.53%), and Intuit Inc (-2.42%). On NASDAQ, EZGO Technologies Ltd (-19.57%), NextGen Healthcare Inc (-13.14%), Novan Inc (-12.51%), and Pintec Technology Holdings Ltd (-11.70%) were the losers. On Dow Jones, Procter & Gamble Co (-2.27%), Merck & Co Inc (-1.70%), Salesforce.Com Inc (-1.68%), Amgen Inc (-1.36%) were the laggards.
Volume Movers
Top volume movers were Ford Motor Co (43.34M), General Electric Co (38.18M), Apple Inc (32.91M), Coca-Cola Co (27.19M), Kinder Morgan Inc (24.92M), Bank of America Corp (23.04M), Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (20.57M), Cisco Systems Inc (20.46M), Wells Fargo & Co (19.24M), AT&T Inc (18.93M), Sundial Growers Inc (41.51M), Li Auto Inc (33.94M), Vertex Energy Inc (32.54M), Tellurian Inc (16.92M), and Host Hotels & Resorts Inc (16.43M).
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Futures & Commodities
Gold futures were down 0.26% to US$1,896.30 per ounce. Silver slightly increased 0.25% to US$27.948 per ounce, while copper was up 3.06% to US$4.6680.
Brent oil futures dropped 0.06% US$69.20 per barrel and WTI crude was up 1.00% to US$66.87.
Bond Market
The 30-year Treasury bond yields were up 1.12% to 2.285, while the 10-year bond yields increased 2.26% to 1.610.
US Dollar Futures Index remained flat at US$90.002.
