US markets end sharply higher on Thursday

14 Apr 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Thursday following a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected decrease in U.S. producer prices in the month of March. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand fell by 0.5 percent in March following a revised unchanged reading in February. Street had expected producer prices to come in unchanged compared to the 0.1 percent dip originally reported for the previous month. The report also showed the annual rate of producer price growth slowed dramatically to 2.7 percent in March from 4.9 percent in February. Street had expected the pace of growth to slow to 3.0 percent. Combined with Wednesday's tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data, the report helped ease concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.

On the sectoral front, Gold stocks saw substantial strength on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.6 percent to an eleven-month closing high. The rally by gold stocks came amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for June delivery surging $30.40 to $2,055.30 an ounce. Considerable strength was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 surge by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index. The index reached its best closing level in well over a month. Retail stocks also showed a significant move to the upside on the day, resulting in a 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 383.19 points or 1.14 percent to 34,029.69, Nasdaq rose 236.94 points or 1.99 percent to 12,166.27 and S&P 500 was up by 54.27 points or 1.33 percent to 4,146.22. 

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