Thursday, January 30, 2025
19.0°F

US stocks open higher as a technology-driven rally chugs on

AP Business Writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 5 months AGO
by AP Business Writer
| September 2, 2020 7:03 AM

Stocks are moving broadly higher on Wall Street in early trading Wednesday, placing the market on pace to extend its milestone-setting run.

The S&P 500 was up 0.6%, with technology, health care and communication stocks driving the rally. Energy companies were the only laggard as oil prices headed lower. Treasury yields were mixed.

Investors appeared to shrug off a report showing that U.S. companies added 428,000 jobs in August, far less than what economists had expected. The survey by payroll processor ADP comes ahead of the government's more comprehensive monthly hiring report due out Friday.

DraftKings jumped 5.7% after announcing that basketball legend Michael Jordan would take an ownership stake in the company in exchange for becoming a special advisor to the sports betting site.

Macy’s also rose 1.5% after reporting a quarterly loss that was much smaller than analysts were anticipating. The department store chain said its digital sales rose more than 50% in the latest quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 219 points, or 0.8%, to 28,865 as of 10:27 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with tech stocks, added 0.1% after wavering in the early going. Smaller companies fell, sending the Russell 2000 index down 0.4%.

Markets in Europe were broadly higher. Germany’s DAX rose 1.8%, while France’s CAC 40 added 1.7%. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.2%. Asian markets ended mixed.

U.S. stocks remain in record territory after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq set all-time highs in recent weeks. The benchmark S&P 500 index is up 9.5% this year following a five month streak of gains, while the Nasdaq is up more than 32%.

Wall Street's push higher has been powered by gains in technology stocks that investors expect will remain safe bets throughout the pandemic and beyond, reflecting how reliant people have become on internet-connected devices and online services while spending more time at home.

Encouraging data as more businesses shut down due to the pandemic have reopened and hope that the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 will yield results by the end of this year have fueled investor optimism that the economy will bounce back from a deep recession.

Treasury yields were mixed Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 0.67%.

Oil prices headed lower. Benchmark U.S. crude oil was down 1.2% to $42.26 a barrel, while Brent crude oil, the international standard, was off 0.5% to $45.33 a barrel.

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

US stocks close higher, adding to a solid string of gains
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 5 months ago
US stocks head higher, add to market's solid string of gains
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 5 months ago
US stocks are off to a mixed start at the end of bumpy week
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 5 months ago

ARTICLES BY AP BUSINESS WRITER

October 10, 2020 12:03 a.m.

Drive-thru dominates even as dine-in restrictions ease

Even with cities like New York relaxing rules for dining in, sales figures from chains like McDonalds and Domino’s Pizza on Thursday suggest that most people continue to favor keeping their distance.

October 9, 2020 5:03 a.m.

Global stocks mostly higher on US stimulus hopes

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets and Wall Street futures mostly rose Friday after President Donald Trump said talks had resumed on an aid package for the struggling U.S. economy.

October 9, 2020 2:06 a.m.

Global stocks follow Wall Street higher on stimulus hopes

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets and Wall Street futures rose Friday after President Donald Trump said talks had resumed on an aid package for the struggling U.S. economy.