US markets settle higher after upbeat economic data

04 Aug 2022 Evaluate

The US markets settled higher on Wednesday with Nasdaq ending around two and half percent higher. The rebound on markets partly reflected a positive reaction to some upbeat US economic data, which helped ease concerns about a recession. A report released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed an unexpected acceleration in the pace of growth in US services sector activity in the month of July. The ISM said its services PMI rose to 56.7 in July from 55.3 in June, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. The uptick came as a surprise to participants, who had expected the index to dip to 53.5. The unexpected increase by the services PMI came after the index edged down to its lowest reading since May 2020 in the previous month.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed a significant increase in new orders for US. manufactured goods in the month of June. The report showed factory orders shot up by 2.0 percent in June after surging by an upwardly revised 1.8 percent in May. Street had expected factory orders to advance by 1.1 percent compared to the 1.6 percent jump originally reported for the previous month. On the sectoral front, airline stocks moved sharply higher on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3.9 percent to its best closing level in almost two months. Substantial strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 3.8 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Semiconductor stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.7 percent to a nearly two-month closing high.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 416.33 points or 1.29 percent to 32,812.5, Nasdaq rose 319.4 points or 2.59 percent to 12,668.16 and S&P 500 was up by 63.98 points or 1.56 percent to 4,155.17.

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