Technology stocks helped Wall Street’s main indexes rebound on Thursday after three sessions of declines, as data showing fewer Americans filed for weekly jobless claims bolstered confidence in a U.S. economic recovery.
The Labor Department’s data showed new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week as companies held onto their workers. A separate report showed producer prices increased more than expected in April, leading to the biggest annual gain since 2010.
The data comes on the heels of stronger-than-expected consumer prices data, a surge in commodity prices and signs of a labor shortage this week, stoking inflation concerns that could force the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than expected.
Losses in the past three days had pulled the S&P 500 4% off its record closing high on Friday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was about 8% below its April 29 all-time high.
“People were expecting higher inflation, there was a little bit of a reset. But I don’t see every CPI data as being a potential Armageddon,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive officer of Infrastructure Capital Management.
“There’s still more room to rotate into financials and energy from the tech stocks. I don’t think the big-cap tech stocks are overvalued but they are fully valued.”
The technology index among the most battered S&P sectors this week, jumped 1.5% on Thursday.
The CBOE volatility index, a measure of investor anxiety, retreated to 24.11 points after hitting its highest levels in more than two months.
At 11:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 403.96 points, or 1.20%, at 33,991.62, the S&P 500 was up 44.97 points, or 1.11%, at 4,108.01, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 99.10 points, or 0.76%, at 13,130.78.
The inflation talk has increased focus on economic data, with attention turning to retail sales and industrial production reports on Friday.
Dating app owner Bumble Inc shed another 10%, falling below its initial public offering price for the first time, despite forecasting current-quarter revenue above estimates. The stock, listed on the Nasdaq in February, has lost about 19% of its value in the past three sessions.
Walt Disney’s shares gained 0.8% ahead of its second-quarter results due after the closing bell.
Boeing Co rose 1.4% after the U.S. plane-maker won approval from U.S. regulators for a fix of an electrical grounding issue that had affected about 100 737 MAX airplanes.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.53-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.35-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 23 new highs and 90 new lows.
