The S&P 500 jumped 1% shortly after Thursday's opening bell, leading a rebound in major U.S. indexes a day after the Federal Reserve's first rate hike in three years triggered a broad sell-off. Falling oil prices and retreating Treasury yields gave stocks room to recover, while Generac and Nebius led early movers on company-specific news.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7%, the S&P 500 popped 1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.4%, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reclaiming their 50-day moving averages.
Wednesday's sell-off reverses
The rebound followed a rough prior session. On Wednesday, the Dow skidded 1.2% and the small-cap Russell 2000 lost 0.4%, both hitting three-month lows, while the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq recovered to lose just 0.01%. The losses came after the Fed raised its overnight federal funds rate by a quarter point, lifting the target range to between 3.75% and 4%, its first increase since 2023. According to CNBC, Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said his team remained "positioned for further equity gains while preparing for near-term volatility."
Oil and yields ease the pressure
The 10-year Treasury yield retreated to 4.95% after rising to just over 5% on Tuesday, a 19-year high. Crude oil declined 2% to nearly $100 a barrel, extending a 3.2% drop in the prior session to $102.43, as Saudi Arabia works to partially restart a key pipeline. Traders now price in at least one more rate increase before year-end, according to market pricing cited by Crypto Briefing.
Generac and Nebius lead early movers
Generac shares surged nearly 31% in premarket trading after the company disclosed a deal to supply backup power generators for Amazon's data centers, with Amazon also receiving warrants to buy Generac stock. Under the agreement, Amazon can purchase up to $340 million of Generac shares, and initial deliveries are expected to total $2.4 billion between 2027 and 2028. Nebius jumped more than 9% after raising its AI computing prices by an average of 20%.
Jobless claims beat forecasts
Initial jobless claims fell to 196,000 for the week, below economists' forecast of 208,000 and down from the prior week's 206,000. Housing starts declined to 1.275 million in August from July's revised 1.309 million, while building permits slipped to 1.394 million against estimates for 1.4 million.
Sources: Investor's Business Daily, CNBC, Crypto Briefing
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