By Caitlin McCabe and Caitlin Ostroff
Investors' appetite for technology stocks grew as they awaited earnings from Apple, due after the market close.
U.S. stock indexes were climbing Thursday after a choppy Wednesday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell provided some relief yesterday for investors who had started to fear the possibility of an interest-rate hike. But he also indicated the bar to cut rates had gone up, further clouding the outlook for when cuts may begin.
The focus now shifts to two major set pieces: Apple's quarterly results, and payrolls data on Friday morning. Economists expect the U.S. added 240,000 jobs in April, a slowdown from March.
In recent trading:
Stock indexes climbed. Tech stocks led gains, with the Nasdaq Composite outperforming the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials. All three are still on track for weekly losses.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked up. It rose above 4.6%, after settling Wednesday at 4.591%.
Qualcomm shares jumped after the chip company reported sales and profit that beat expectations.
The Japanese yen fell against the dollar. Analysts attributed a sharp rise late Wednesday to possible intervention by Tokyo.
Bitcoin regained some ground to trade around $59,000, after falling more than 10% over three days of losses.
Overseas action was mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 2.5%.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 02, 2024 12:19 ET (16:19 GMT)
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