At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced by 349.44 points, or 1.02%, to 34,707.94. The S&P500 index grew by 63.92 points, or 1.43%, to 4,520.16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was up by 269.23 points, or 1.93%, to 14,191.84.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE exchange by 2184 to 1145 and 132 closed unchanged. In the NASDAQ, 3138 issues advanced, 1545 issues declined, and 264 issues unchanged.
All 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes inclined, with top performing sector were information technology (up 2.7%), materials (up 2%), communication services (up 1.7%), and healthcare (up 1.2%) issues.
The rebound on Wall Street came in reaction to a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in over 50 years in the week ended March 19th. The report showed initial jobless claims slid to 187,000, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.
However, market gains were capped, as uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets amid continued concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war, inflation and interest rates.
Investors watched for the next developments in the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Western leaders have agreed to increase military aid to Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia whose invasion of its neighbor entered a second month.
Shares of tech companies were up, with Nvidia Corp gaining 9.8% amid reports of interest in Intel (INTC) for chip manufacturing, while Intel Corp climbed 6.9% after reports that the US chip-maker is close to announcing its $650 million purchase of Israeli cloud services startup Granulate. Apple shares rose for an eighth consecutive day after getting hammered earlier this month.
Among individual shares, Uber Technologies Inc climbed 5% after the ride-hailing firm reached a deal to list all New York City taxis on its app.
ECONOMIC NEWS: US Durable Goods Orders Fall 2.2% In February-- US durable goods orders slumped by 2.2% in February after jumping by 1.6% in January, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. The much bigger than expected decrease in durable goods orders came as orders for transportation equipment plunged by 5.6% in February after surging by 3.2% in January. Orders for non-defense aircraft and parts led the way lower, plummeting by 30.4% in February after soaring by 10.9% in January. Excluding the steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders fell by 0.6% in February after climbing by 0.8% in January.
US Jobless Claims Drop To Lowest Level In 50 Years- US first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in over 50 years in the week ended March 19th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report showed initial jobless claims slid to 187,000, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000. With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 182,000 in September 1969.
US Private Sector Expansion Accelerates Amid Strong Demand-The S&P Global US Composite PMI rose to 58.5 in March, from 55.9 in the previous month, a preliminary estimate showed, as demand conditions and supply issues continued to improve from January's omicron impact. Manufacturing and service providers registered strong upturn in activity, largely supported buy pent up demand and easing Covid Restrictions. It was the fastest growth in the American private sector since July, as both goods producers and service providers saw higher output levels. On the demand side, new orders rose to a 9-month high, along with stronger overseas demand. Services PMI rose to 58.9 in March of 2022 from 56.5 in the previous month and well above market consensus of 56, a preliminary estimate showed. The latest reading pointed to the strongest expansion since last July. Manufacturing PMI increased to 58.5 in March of 2022 from 57.3 in February, easily beating forecasts of 56.3, preliminary estimates showed. It was the highest reading since September 2020, with output rising at the fastest rate since last June, supported by increasing demand, fewer supply bottlenecks and the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions.
Among Indian ADR, HDFC Bank added 0.68% to $60.80, ICICI Bank added 0.83% to $18.26, Wipro added 1% to $7.93, WNS Holdings added 0.42% to $84.08, Dr Reddy's Labs added 5.64% to $56.22, Tata Motors added 1.5% to $28.58, and INFOSYS rose 1.48% to $24.61. Azure Power Global fell 0.6% to $18.98.
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