The US markets ended sharply higher, as traders took some support after the report stating that Trump administration is considering a one-month delay for automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada. The White House later confirmed the exemption for automakers, noting the move came after Trump spoke with heads of General Motors (GM), Ford Motor (F) and Stellantis (STLA). Traders overlooked report from payroll processor ADP showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of February. ADP said private sector employment rose by 77,000 jobs in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 186,000 jobs in January. Street had expected private sector employment to grow by 140,000 jobs compared to the addition of 183,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released a separate report showing an unexpected uptick by its reading on U.S. service sector activity in the month of February. The ISM said its services PMI inched up to 53.5 in February from 52.8 in January, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Street had expected the index to edge down to 52.6.
On sectorial front, Airline stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside following recent weakness, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.3 percent after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in well over four months. Significant strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 4.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The rally by gold stocks came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal. Steel stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, resulting in a 3.5 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 485.6 points or 1.14 percent to 43,006.59, Nasdaq increased 267.57 points or 1.46 percent to 18,552.73 and S&P 500 was up by 64.48 points or 1.12 percent to 5,842.63.
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