| The Nasdaq climbed well off its worst levels of the day, the tech-heavy index still closed down 60 points or 0.3% at 23,594. The S&P 500 rose 14 points or 0.2% to 6,901 and the Dow jumped 646 points or 1.3% to a new record closing high of 48,704.01.
The Dow surged largely due to a sharp 6.1% rise in Visa (V) shares after Bank of America upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. Strong performances by Nike (NKE), UnitedHealth (UNH), and American Express (AXP) further supported the blue-chip index’s jump.
In contrast, the Nasdaq was weighed down by a 10.8% plunge in Oracle (ORCL) shares after the company reported better-than-expected earnings but weaker revenue. AI-related stocks like Nvidia (NVDA) also slipped amid valuation concerns while U.S. jobless claims rose to 236,000—well above expectations—signaling a potential cooling in labor market momentum.
Gold stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index spiking by 4.3% to a new record closing high. Steel stocks saw substantial strength, as reflected by the 2.2% surge by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Banking and networking stocks too witnessed notable strength on the day while oil producer stocks moved to the downside amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.
Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 0.9% while China's Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.7%. The major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8%, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3%.
In the bond market, treasuries extended the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, fell 2.3 bps to 4.14%.
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