Nasdaq rebounds after inflation-driven sell-off, Disney weighs on the Dow

The Nasdaq Composite rebounded Thursday after hot inflation data and surging bond yields sparked a sell-off in technology stocks in the previous session.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.5% to close at 15,704.28. The S&P 500 closed marginally higher at 4,649.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 158.71 points, or 0.4%, to 35,921.23 — pulled down by Disney‘s 7% drop.

“We’re going to have this push and pull where we get these headline numbers that shock the markets a bit, like with inflation yesterday,” BMO Wealth Management chief investment strategist Yung-Yu Ma said.

Some tech names rose Thursday after October’s consumer price index reading pushed up bond yields Wednesday. The spike in rates pressured growth pockets of the equity market.

Nvidia climbed 3.2%, and AMD added 4.4%.

Shares of commodity producers in the S&P 500 gained as investors bet on sustained inflation. The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund hit a fresh intraday all-time high. Mining company Freeport-McMoRan ran up 9% and steel producer Nucor rose 2.7%.

On the downside, Disney shares fell after the media giant missed on the top and bottom lines of its quarterly results. Disney+ subscribers also came in short of estimates.

The bond market was closed Thursday for Veterans Day.

Wednesday’s inflation report showed the consumer price index, which tracks a basket of products ranging from gasoline and health care to groceries and rents, rose 6.2% in October from a year ago, hitting its highest level in three decades.

“Inflation remains stubbornly high, to the surprise of many that expected prices to come back to earth sooner,” LPL Financial chief market strategist Ryan Detrick said. “The truth is you can’t shut down a $20 trillion economy and not feel some bumps as it restarts, but we are hopeful the supply chain issues will resolve over the coming quarters and inflation should calm down as well.”

Following the CPI data, traders moved up their expectations for when the first Fed rate hike would occur. The Fed funds futures market now sees greater odds of the central bank’s first full rate hike coming in July 2022.