Wall Street’s three main stock indexes — the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average — closed up between two and three percent each. The S&P was the outlier of the three, gaining the most in 18 months.
“We’re trading a little bit on fundamentals today, but the market is still in assessment mode,” Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management, said in comments carried by CNBC.
The S&P, Nasdaq and Dow plummeted at the start of the week, joining world stock markets lower, in an episode some have taken to calling “Black Monday 2.0” after the original Black Monday of October 19, 1987, where a global crash in stocks presaged one of the darkest days in the modern investing era.
Following a partial recovery on Tuesday, Wall Street fell again at Wednesday’s close amid anxiety about a potential US recession after unemployment in the world’s largest economy hit 2,5 year highs.
In Thursday’s session, the S&P, which tracks stocks of 500 high-performing US companies, closed up 2.3% in the biggest one-day leap on the S&P since February 2023. The rally also drew a contrast to the index’s 3% slump on Monday which marked its worst day since September 2022.
The Nasdaq, which comprises pricey stocks such as Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google, finished the latest session up 2.9% after Monday’s 3.4% tumble.
The Dow, the broadest indicator for US equity markets and one that often reflects stocks of value, ended up 1.8% after the 2.6% deficit at the start of the week.