All three major US indices extended the previous day’s gains on Thursday, March 17, after the rate worries eased as investors looked beyond war headlines for opportunities in the market.
Crude benchmarks Brent and WTI were trading above US$100 on Thursday as supply woes continued. This week, the prices had fallen briefly after the latest round of Russia-Ukraine talks.
Oil recently traded above US$130 a barrel after Russia intensified bombings in Ukraine, prompting a European delegation to visit the capital Kyiv to take stock of the situation.
Energy stocks were among the biggest gainers on Thursday. After the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, oil companies saw substantial gains, halting a punishing downward trend.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose for the fourth consecutive day, closing at 2.192%. Yields rise inversely to bond prices. Short-term bonds are more affected by rate changes.
The Federal Reserve had raised its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, stressing that it will consider more rate increases this year to tame the high inflation.
Gold, the traditional haven asset, declined 0.01% to US$1,943.05 per ounce.
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The S&P 500 rose 1.23% to 4411.67. The Dow Jones rose 1.23% to 34480.76. The NASDAQ gained 1.33% at 13614.78, and the small-cap Russell 2000 was up 1.69% to 2065.02.
The energy and basic materials sectors were the top movers on the S&P 500 index on Thursday. Utility and consumer staples were the laggards. All the 11 segments of the index stayed in the positive territory.
In the energy sector, Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) rose 2.66%, Chevron Corporation rose (CVX) 1.73%, ConocoPhillips (COP) surged 4.23%, and BP plc (BP) was up 1.50%. PetroChina Company Limited (PTR) Equinor ASA (EQNR) advanced 5.79% and 5.83%, respectively.
In tech stocks, Apple Inc. ((AAPL) gained 0.65%, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) was up 0.28%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) gained 1.10%, and Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM) was up 2.35%.
In the consumer discretionary segment, Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) rose 2.70%, Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) gained 3.73%, Home Depot (HD) was up 1.65%, and Alibaba Group (BABA) slid 4.39%.
In consumer staples, Walmart Inc. (WMT) was up 0.15%, Procter & Gamble (PG) rose 0.31%, The Coca-Cola Company (KO) rose 1.06%, and Target Corporation (TGT) surged 2.34%.
The cryptocurrency market was up 0.63% to US$1.83 trillion at around 4 pm ET, as per coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin (BTC) rose about 4.20% to US$40,911.12 in the last 24 hours.
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Futures & Commodities
Gold futures declined 0.01% to US$1,943.05 per ounce. Silver futures fell 0.08% to US$25.552 per ounce, while copper futures were up 0.04% to US$4.6995.
Brent oil futures fell 0.05% to US$106.93 per barrel and WTI crude futures were up 0.23% to US$103.85.
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Bond Market
The 30-year Treasury bond yields rose 0.96% to 2.461, while the 10-year bond yields fell 1.14% to 2.167.
US Dollar Futures Index fell 0.60% to US$98.030.
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