The Nasdaq led Wall Street higher on Tuesday as megacap growth and technology stocks gaining and U.S. Treasury yields declined amid growing investor speculation that the Federal Reserve would temper its aggressive rate hike path.
New orders for U.S.-manufactured goods remained unchanged in August as expected, while U.S. job openings, a measure of labor demand fell by the most in nearly 2-1/2 years in August.
Following the economic data, yields on government bonds dipped for a second day on hopes of moderation in monetary policy even though San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly said the central bank needs to deliver further interest rate hikes.
“Job openings data coming in lower than expected points to a weakening labor market. If confirmed by the non-farm payrolls report on Friday it could give the Fed the cover to slow down its tightening,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman and managing member of New York-based Great Hill Capital.
“The market loves to see that (weakness in yields and dollar) and it sets up well going into earnings season with expectations so low at 3.2% earnings growth.”
The yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell to near two-week lows, lifting rate-sensitive tech and tech-adjacent stocks.
Megacap market leaders such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Alphabet Inc and Nvidia Corp rose around 2.37% to 4.30%, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index climbed 4.12%. Consumer discretionary sector led gains among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, rising over 4%.
At 10:20 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 714.23 points, or 2.42%, at 30,205.12, the S&P 500 was up 100.15 points, or 2.72%, at 3,778.58, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 347.73 points, or 3.22%, at 11,163.17.
Banks such as Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp added more than 3% each.
The rebound in stocks on the first trading day of the final quarter follows the S&P 500’s lowest close in nearly two years on Friday that capped its worst monthly performance since March 2020.
Investors will keep a close watch on comments from Fed speakers including New York President John Williams, Cleveland President Loretta Mester and Governor Philip Jefferson.
Rivian Automotive Inc jumped 8.4% after the electric-vehicle maker said it produced 7,363 units in the third quarter, 67% higher than the preceding quarter, and maintained its full-year target of 25,000.
Tesla Inc bounced back 4.5% from its steepest selloff in four months in the previous session that was triggered by disappointing quarterly vehicle deliveries.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 13.59-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 6.70-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 33 new highs and 31 new lows.