Stocks Rebound As Dollar, Treasury Yields Retreat; Bitcoin Targets Best September Session: What's Driving Markets Thursday?

Markets are bouncing back after days of pronounced volatility, aided by the slowdown in Treasury yields and Thursday’s dip in the value of the dollar.

Newly released data confirmed that U.S. economic growth was at an annualized rate of 2.1% in Q2, while initial jobless claims have held near their over-eight-month low, defying expectations of a more significant increase.

The surge in risk appetite is fueling solid gains in tech stocks and Bitcoin BTC/USD during the trading sessions. The cryptocurrency has gained 2.9% by midday, marking its strongest session in September.

Chart of The Day: Bitcoin’s Daily Returns In September

Cues From Thursday’s Trading:

Major averages were all in the green on Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Dow gained 0.5%, the Russell 2000 soared 1% and the Nasdaq 1000 outperformed, rising 1.1%

US Index Performance On Tuesday

Thursday’s Trading In Major US Equity ETFs

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.7% higher to $429.14
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA rose 0.46% to $336.97 
• The Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ soared 1.1% to $358.97, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Looking at S&P 500’s sector ETFs:

• The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC was the outperformer, up by 1.3%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLB and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY also showed substantial gains, both up by 1.1%.
• The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU was the laggard, down 1.8%.

Latest Economic Data:

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the U.S. economy saw a 2.1% annualized growth rate in the second quarter of 2023. This figure remained in line with the second estimate but marked a slight dip from the upwardly revised 2.2% growth witnessed in the first quarter.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee delivered dovish remarks, stating that inflation could reach the target soon, without further policy tightening and only a modest slowdown in growth.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook will speak at 3 p.m. EDT and Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 4 p.m. EDT.

The Labor Department reported 204,000 new jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 23, marking a slight uptick from the previous week's nine-month low of 202,000. The marginal rise fell short of expectations, as economists had anticipated an increase to 215,000.

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Stocks In Focus:

• Jabil, Inc. JBL rose over 15% after reporting better-than-expected earnings last quarter.
• Other companies reacting to their earnings reports include Accenture plc ACN, down 5% on a revenue miss, CarMax Inc. KMX down over 10%.
• Peloton Interactive, Inc. PTON jumped over 6% after it signed a five-year deal with Lululemon Athletica, Inc. LULU.
• Workday, Inc. WDAY plunged nearly 10% after the cloud service provider reduced its subscription revenue growth guidance at an investor presentation.
• Micron Technology, Inc. MU declined nearly 4% after the chipmaker issued lackluster guidance.
• GameStop Corp. GME had a volatile session, rising as much as 10% after the company announced Ryan Cohen as CEO, effective immediately, only to subsequently fall by 1.4%.
• Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. MARA rose over 8% as the crypto market soared.
• Companies reporting after the close include Nike, Inc. NKE and BlackBerry Ltd. BB.

Commodities, Bonds, Other Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil fell 1.2%, with a barrel of WTI-grade crude trading at $91. The United States Oil Fund ETF USO was 0.9% lower to $82.19.  

Treasury yields were flat, with the 10-year yield stable at 4.62% and the 30-year yield up by 1 basis point to 4.73%%. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT was 0.3% lower for the day. 

The dollar fell, with the U.S. dollar index, which is tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, down 0.5%. The EUR/USD pair, which is tracked by the Invesco CurrecyShares Euro Currency Trust FXE, was 0.6% higher to 1.0571.

European equity indices closed in the green. The SPDR DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETF  FEZ rose 1.5%. 

Gold edged 0.6% down to $1,864/oz, while silver held steady at $22.52.

Staff writer Piero Cingari updated this report midday Thursday. 

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