U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as Wall Street looked to extend a modest winning streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 256 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 1% and 1.3%, respectively. The S&P 500, which sits about 20% off its record high, is looking for its first four-day winning streak since late March.
Energy stocks were leading the gains on Thursday, reversing some recent losses as oil prices rebounded. Chevron rose 2.5%, while Exxon jumped more than 3%.
Freeport-McMoRan and Nucor rose 6.6% and 5%, respectively, as commodity stocks climbed.
Chipmakers were higher in early trading after South Korea’s Samsung posted an 11% jump in profit and 21% surge in revenue for the latest period on strong sales of memory chips. Shares of AMD and Nvidia gained 4% and 3%, respectively.
Another notable early mover was GameStop, which popped 10% after the video game retailer said a 4-for-1 stock split was approved by its board.
On the economic front, initial jobless claims and continuing claims both ticked up slightly last week. The U.S. trade deficit for May came in slightly higher than expected at $85.5 billion but was still down month over month.
The Labor Department’s official jobs report is due out on Friday.
“With anecdotes of Tech sector layoffs and hiring freezes, sub-50 readings in the Employment
Components of the most recent ISM Manufacturing and Services surveys, and rising unemployment claims (albeit from extremely low levels), Friday’s Jobs report will hold particular significance,” Credit Suisse chief U.S. equity strategist Jonathan Golub said in a note to clients.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 posted its third straight day of gains following the release of the June meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve. The broader market index added nearly 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained more than 69 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite rose close to 0.4%.
Central bank officials reiterated a tough stance against inflation, saying another 50- or 75-basis point move would “likely be appropriate” at the July 26-27 meeting.
Still, many investors found it challenging to trust those gains as recession concerns continue to loom on Wall Street, and as market participants looked ahead to what many expect will be a volatile earnings season this month.
“Everybody is both emotionally and sort of market level exhausted,” Alli McCartney, managing director at UBS Private Wealth Management, said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “So, I think we still have a summer of watching for what the Fed does, watching for what happens in international policy, watching for the directionality of CPI.”
Meanwhile, Levi Strauss is set to report earnings Thursday after the bell.
The three major averages rose on Thursday, and the S&P 500 was on track for a four-day winning streak.