Us Stocks Rally Strongly On Positive Economic Recovery As Jobless Number Hits 53-Year Low

Positive employment data has rekindled investors' confidence in the economic recovery, with US stocks closing collectively higher. As of the close, the Dow rose 349.4 points, or 1.0%, to 34707.9 points; the S&P 500 rose 63.9 points or 1.4%, to 4520.2 points; the Nasdaq closed at 14191.8 points, up 269.2 points, or 1.9%.

The U.S. Department of Labor released data on 24 March local time, as of the week of March 19, initial jobless claims were reported at 187,000, a record low since September 1969, or nearly 53 years. Expectations and the previous value were 212,000 and 215,000 respectively, the indicator had soared to a record 6.149 million in April 2020 when the epidemic hit the US.

The drop in unemployment was in line with the job market recovery, with the unemployment rate falling to a two-year low of 3.8% in February. The imbalance between labour supply and demand is driving wage growth, providing some cushion for US households against a 40-year high in inflation.

Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at investment firm Crossmark Global Investments, said the market has been volatile over the past week, with some positive economic data sending some investors into stock picking as a reason for the rally.

On the sector front, technology and materials sectors led the broader market, with the S&P 500 technology and materials stocks closing 2.7% and 2.0% higher respectively. Chip stocks strengthened, with Nvidia and Intel as the best performing S&P 500 components, with the former rising 9.8%, the biggest one-day gain since November last year, and the latter rising 6.9%, the best one-day performance in more than a year.

According to foreign media reports, Nvidia said it is interested in studying the possibility of Intel working for it, but it will take a long time because the relevant discussions between the two companies involve supply chain integration.

Richard Saperstein, chief investment officer at wealth management firm Treasury Partners, said U.S. stocks are trying to rebound from a correction range, but fundamentally they are more risky and uncertain now than they were before the tensions in Ukraine.

The S&P 500 fell into a correction range at the end of February and has repeatedly moved higher since then, closing at just 5.8% above its previous high as of the 24th, with the Dow 5.7% away from another record high and only the Nasdaq still hovering in a correction range, 11.6% short of its all-time high set in November 2021.

A number of Federal Reserve officials spoke during the day. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said he was reassured by the range of 25 basis points per rate hike and was open to a 50 basis point rise if necessary.

"We need to proceed cautiously, remain humble and flexible, and aim to get rates to neutral as soon as possible." He said there was no pre-set course for monetary policy. A 25 basis point increase in interest rates is currently expected at all six rate meetings during the year.

Russian stocks resumed partial stock trading on 24 local time after a nearly month-long hiatus, with the Moscow Stock Exchange index closing up 4.4 percent, up more than 10 percent at one point during the session.

On that day, the Moscow Stock Exchange index of 50 components of 33 stocks to resume trading, trading hours for Moscow time 9:50 to 14:00 (Beijing time 14:50 to 19:00), and prohibited short selling. Russia suspended trading in its stock market at the end of February due to geopolitical factors.