Stocks Jump As Investors Await Fed Confab
3:24 pm Thursday, August 25th, 2022
The stock market had modest gains on Thursday. Some of the upside momentum can be attributed to an emerging hope that Fed Chair Powell will make some favorable comments about the rate-hike path tomorrow in his speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
There’s also a mixed batch of earnings news in play, which the market reacted to in a mixed fashion. Snowflake (SNOW) is a winning standout for growth stocks while fellow growth stock Salesforce (CRM) limits Dow Jones Industrial Average gains today after it disappointed with guidance.
NVIDIA (NVDA), on the other hand, also issued below-consensus guidance but it’s outperforming on the day as some market participants view its weak guidance as a hopeful sign that a bottom for semiconductor industry conditions is relatively close. The PHLX Semiconductor Index is up 2.4%.
Mega caps trade slightly ahead of the broader market while growth stocks trade in tandem with value stocks. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) and Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) are up 0.5% versus a 0.3% gain in the S&P 500. The Russell 3000 Growth Index and Russell 3000 Value Index both trade up 0.6%.
There’s a general risk-on tone today as defensive sectors lag their peers. Consumer staples (-0.4%), utilities (-0.3%), and health care (-0.1%) are alone in negative territory.
Oil prices are modestly lower with WTI crude oil futures down 0.6% to $94.37/bbl.
The 10-yr note yield is down, off four basis points to 3.07%, while the 2-yr note yield is unchanged at 3.37%.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending August 20 decreased by 2,000 to 243,000 (consensus 253,000) while continuing jobless claims for the week ending August 13 decreased by 19,000 to 1.415 million.
