The Nasdaq Composite bounced on Thursday, a day after dipping into correction territory, as investors rotated back into technology names.
The Nasdaq, which is home to many of the market’s biggest tech names, dipped more than 10% on Wednesday from its November 2021 all-time high, indicating a technical correction. The index was 1% higher on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 180 points, or 0.55%, on Thursday. The S&P 500 added 0.66%.
Technology stocks led markets higher on Thursday. Zoom Video added nearly 3%, Microsoft rose 1.8%, Meta Platforms popped nearly 2% and Tesla was up more than 1%. Streaming giant Netflix rose 1.7% ahead of its quarterly report after the bell on Thursday.
Dow componentTravelersposted beats on the top and bottom lines whileAmerican Airlinesalso beat estimates but lowered guidance. Travelers rose 3%.
United Airlinesshares fell about 1% after the company reported its quarterly results and warned that omicronhas dented bookingsand will delay its pandemic recovery.
Stocks moved higher even as government bond yields again edged higher, part of a market repricing as the Federal Reserve gets set to tighten monetary policy.
The central bank meets next week, with markets indicating just a slight chance of action on interest rates. However, traders have fully priced in the first of what is expected to be four 0.25 percentage point hikes through 2022.
The two-year Treasury, which is most closely tied to Fed rate policy, most recently yielded about 1.04%, while the benchmark 10-year note was at 1.84%.
Ford Motorshares dropped 3% on Thursday. The stock is coming off a meteoric surge in 2021 on hopes for its electric vehicle development, but Jefferies analystssaid in a downgradethat the rally, which sent shares up 130% for the year, has gotten overdone.
Unemployment data on Thursday signaled the surge in omicron could be hurting the recovery.
Jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 15totaled 286,000 for the week, their highest level since October. The read was well above the Dow Jones estimate of 225,000 and a substantial gain from the previous week’s 231,000.