Tech Titans Lead the Charge: Nasdaq Soars 0.80% as New York Stock Market Stages Impressive Rebound
Amazon closes with a 6% increase due to strong performance
Number of employed people in October falls significantly below expectations
Considering temporary factors such as hurricanes
▲Traders are working at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Reuters Yonhap News
The New York stock market rebounded on the 1st (local time) thanks to the strength of technology stocks.
On the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow closed at 42,052.19, up 288.73 points (0.69%) from the previous day. The S&P 500 index ended trading at 5728.80, up 23.35 points (0.41%) from the previous trading day, and the Nasdaq index ended trading at 18,239.92, up 144.77 points (0.80%) from the previous trading day.
Amazon, which recorded good performance in the third quarter of this year, rose 6% and led the rising market. In the performance announcement announced on the 31st of last month, investment sentiment was supported by the increase in cloud business sales due to demand for artificial intelligence (AI). Amazon announced that it had sales of $158.9 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.43 in the third quarter of this year. All of these exceeded market expectations.
Although the increase in the number of employed people in October’s U.S. employment index was significantly below market expectations, the prevailing opinion was that temporary factors such as hurricanes had an effect and that the overall sound structure of the U.S. economy did not change.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced on this day that the number of non-agricultural employed people increased by 120 million in October employment statistics. This was far below market expectations of 100,000 to 110,000 people. The number of employed people in August and September was also adjusted downward by approximately 80,000 and 30,000, respectively.
However, analysis suggested that the decline in the number of employed people in October was due to special factors such as damage from a large hurricane in the southern region of the United States and a strike at aircraft giant Boeing. As a result, the market also showed no significant fluctuations in major stock index futures despite the somewhat shocking results.
“I don’t think it reflects the cooling of the U.S. employment environment,” said Clark Bellin, chief investment officer (CIO) of U.S. asset management company Bellwether Wealth. “It is difficult to expect a significant interest rate cut,” he explained.
There is also a view that focuses on the bright side by analyzing the details of employment indicators. Eric Wallerstein, chief market strategist at U.S. research firm Yardeni Research, said, “The average hourly wage is up 4% compared to the previous year, which suggests the strength of the economy.”
The U.S. manufacturing industry was sluggish. According to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in October recorded 46.5. This figure is worse than the market expectation (47.6) and the previous month (47.2). ISM explained, “The manufacturing industry continued to be in a state of contraction for 7 consecutive months,” and “23 of the last 24 months were in a state of contraction.”
By industry, consumer discretionary goods surged by about 2.4%. Utilities fell by 2.26%, and real estate fell by 1%.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) volatility index (VIX) recorded 21.88, down 1.28 points (5.53%) from the previous day.
International oil prices rose due to the possibility of Iranian retaliation against Israel. On this day, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTI) for delivery in December, the front-month contract, closed at $69.49 per barrel, up $0.23 (0.33%) from the previous day. The price of Brent crude oil, a global benchmark, for January contract ended trading at $73.10 per barrel, up $0.29 (0.40%) from the previous day.
As news spread that Iran was likely to launch a retaliatory attack on Israel, buying pressure flowed into crude oil futures due to caution over the worsening situation in the Middle East. The American news site Axios reported on the 31st of last month that Iran was preparing to attack Israel within the next few days. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also reported that Iran hinted at a retaliatory attack against Israel.
International gold prices continued to decline. The December contract, the center of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (COMEX), ended trading at $2,749.2 per ounce, down $0.1 from the previous day. It closed slightly lower as the rise in long-term U.S. government bond yields became a burden.
U.S. Treasury yields rose. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds rose nearly 10 basis points (1 basis point = 0.01 percentage point) to 4.382%. The yield on two-year government bonds rose 5 basis points to 4.216%.
The value of the US dollar rose. The dollar index, which shows the value of the dollar against the currencies of six major countries, rose 0.36% to 104.24.