Stock market today: Tech leads market bounce as Powell soothes rate-cut nerves

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• Thursday April 4, 2024 at 9:43 am MST

  Trending Tickers on Thursday

  Amazon (AMZN) led the Yahoo Finance trends page, as shares of the tech giant hit a 52-week high, rising more than 1% on the day. The move came a day after the company announced layoffs for several hundred employees in its cloud computing business.

  Paramount Global (FOR) shares sank nearly 10%, after rising double digits the previous day, amidst reports Skydance Media could buy the media company.

  Levi StraussLevi) gained more than 16% following the company's latest earnings report Wednesday night. The company's revenue of $1.56 billion beat Wall Street estimates of $1.55 billion.

• Thursday April 4, 2024 at 8:45 am MST

  Weekly jobless claims rise, but remain consistent with a 'healthy' labor market

  A busy week of labor market data began Thursday morning with the latest reading on weekly jobless claims.

  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ending March 30, according to new data from the Labor Department, slightly above the 210,000-212,000 range seen through most of March.

  Still, the figure remains low, according to economists, and reflects continued underlying strength in the labor market.

  "Initial jobless claims rose to the highest level since late January in the week ending March 30, but remain comfortably below a level that would indicate a significant weakening of labor market conditions," he wrote in a note. Oxford Economics' chief U.S. economist Nancy Vanden Houten said Thursday. .

  He added: "Applications data and other labor market indicators are consistent with a labor market that is still quite healthy."

• Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 8:00 am MST

  Ford shares rise after delay of all-electric SUV and expand hybrid offering

  ford (F) shares rose nearly 2% after the automaker said it's "retiming" the launch of the next electric SUV until 2027, as it allows the electric vehicle market to mature.

  The company also stated that it is expanding its offering of hybrid electric vehicles. Ford said it plans to offer hybrids across its lineup by the end of this decade.

  Traditional automakers have been scaling back their EV launches recently amid signs of slowing EV growth. Meanwhile, an increase in sales of hybrids has led manufacturers to expand the offering of those types of vehicles.

• Thursday April 4, 2024 at 7:19 am MST

  Meta Hits New High, Helps Drive Nasdaq Higher

  Goal (GOAL) shares gained more than 2% to hit a new high of $523.85 during Thursday's session.

  The stock is up 47% so far this year and is the second best performer of the 'magnificent 7', behind Nvidia (NVDA).

  Shares of the social media giant were helping boost the Nasdaq Composite (^IXICO) on Thursday, the biggest gainer among the major averages.

• Thursday April 4, 2024 at 6:33 am MST

  Tech Stocks Lead Markets Higher

  Stocks opened higher on Thursday, with technology stocks leading gains after a rocky start to the second quarter.

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose around 0.7%, leaving three days lost consecutively for the first line index.

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.7%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose about 0.9%, after both indicators posted slight gains in the previous session.

  The S&P 500 Technology Sector ETF (XLK) gained about 1% at the opening. Actions related to the real estate sector (XRE) and Discretionary Consumption (xly) also went up.

  On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said central bank officials They hope to lower interest rates at "some time" this year.

• Thursday April 4, 2024 at 3:05 am MST

  Citi makes some good points about General Motors

  One of the most discreet stock market movements of 2024 has been that of General Motors (G.M.).

  Shares are up 25% so far this year, outperforming Ford (F) 12% advance and 9% gain for the S&P 500. The move, in this author's humble opinion, has been driven by better execution at GM around the transition to electric vehicles and a new desire to give back cash to shareholders.

  Wall Street may finally be getting its act together with stocks after years of disbelief.

  "With the close of the first quarter, it has become clearer that GM is likely to post another resilient quarter. While industry headwinds and execution risks remain, the five-year setback that last quarter "GM's strong year will be its last looks increasingly outdated," Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said in a client note this morning.

  Michaeli adds that GM's "comeback" is underway and considers the stock one of its best options.

  I came away impressed afterwards spend the day touring an EV facility in Detroit with GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra (video below).

  The company is working on many difficult things that require precise execution to achieve a profitable result. Given that organized chaos, it's a good thing GM remains a highly profitable automaker and is buying back stock with its excess cash.

  Perhaps the time has come to take GM stock off the market. single digit PE multiple range He's been trapped for eons.