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Benchmark US indices closed higher on Thursday, August 5, after the latest labor data showed jobless benefits claims fell sharply last week, and a positive economic outlook drove investors to bet on stocks perceived as riskier than the safe-haven assets.
The S&P 500 was up 0.60% to 4,429.10. The Dow Jones rose 0.78% to 35064.25. The NASDAQ Composite gained 0.78% to 14,895.12, and the small-cap Russell 2000 was up 1.81% to 2,236.01.
The Labor Department said on Thursday that jobless benefits claims dropped by 14,000 to 385,000 in the week ended July 31. The layoffs declined to their lowest level in the last 21 years, as companies held on to their employees as the labor shortage exacerbated.
However, the jobless figure remains nearly twice the number from the pre-pandemic level, which has been a major cause of worry for the economy.
Energy and consumer discretionary stocks were among the top gainers. The technology segment provided the most significant boost to the S&P 500 in Thursday's session. Nine of the 11 segments of the index remained in the green. Basic materials and healthcare stocks trailed.
Shares of Cigna Corporation (CI) plunged more than 11% in intraday trading after reporting its Q2 earnings on Thursday. It reported revenue growth of more than 6400% to US$43.1 billion YoY in Q2. Its earnings per share were US$5.24, topping analysts’ expectations.
E-commerce firm Etsy Inc (ETSY) stock dropped over 7% after it reported lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Its EPS came in at US$0.68 on revenue of US$528.9 million.
The stock of online marketplace Fiverr International Ltd. (FVRR) ticked down 24.92% in its intraday trading after reporting June quarter earnings. Its revenue jumped 59.69% YoY to US$75.26 million, and earnings were US$0.19 per share above the analysts’ projections.
In technology stocks, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) rose 0.81%, Adobe Inc. (ADBE) increased by 0.88%, and Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) gained 2.24%. In addition, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) and Square Inc. (SQ) ticked up 1.57% and 6.09%, respectively.
Also Read: Uber (UBER), Lyft (LYFT) report strong second-quarter revenue growth
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Top Gainers
Top performers on S&P 500 included Penn National Gaming Inc (9.09%), Wynn Resorts Ltd (8.33%), American Airlines Group Inc (7.51%), Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (7.50%). On NASDAQ, top performers were Score Media and Gaming Inc (79.93%), Zymergen Inc (75.15%), SiTime Corp (31.21%), Profound Medical Corp (29.04%). On Dow Jones, Salesforce.Com Inc (2.62%), Amgen Inc (2.49%), Walt Disney Co (2.39%), Walmart Inc (1.86%) were the leaders.
Top Losers
Top laggards on S&P 500 included Cardinal Health Inc (-14.26%), Cigna Corp (-10.92%), ETSY Inc (-9.74%), DXC Technology Co (-8.20%). On NASDAQ, Robinhood Markets Inc (-27.59%), Inogen Inc (-26.71%), Itron Inc (-26.44%), Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc (-24.17%). On Dow Jones, UnitedHealth Group Inc (-2.46%), Verizon Communications Inc (-0.13%), International Business Machines Corp (0.01%), Dow Inc (0.02%) were the laggards.
Volume Movers
Top volume movers were Advanced Micro Devices Inc (20.92M), Ford Motor Co (10.41M), Apple Inc (10.29M), Bank of America Corp (9.55M), American Airlines Group Inc (7.92M), Robinhood Markets Inc (18.93M), Zymergen Inc (11.65M), Sundial Growers Inc (8.19M), Zynga Inc (7.99M), Meten Edtechx Education Group Ltd (7.60M), ZoomInfo Technologies Inc (7.48M).
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Futures & Commodities
Gold futures were down 0.45% to US$1,806.40 per ounce. Silver decreased by 1.09% to US$25.183 per ounce, while copper ticked up 0.35% to US$4.3477.
Brent oil futures increased by 1.15% to US$71.19 per barrel and WTI crude was up 1.41% to US$69.11.
Bond Market
The 30-year Treasury bond yields was up 1.20% to 1.863, while the 10-year bond yields rose 3.48% to 1.225.
US Dollar Futures Index increased by 0.01% to US$92.280.
