By US stocks climbed on Thursday as traders saw better-than-expected retail sales data and continued to digest strong corporate earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added to record levels achieved at Wednesday’s close. Bond yields rose, with the 10-year Treasury up six basis points to 4.075%.
September’s retail sales report showed consumer spending remains strong, with monthly spending up 0.4% from August, just above a Dow Jones consensus estimate of 0.3%.
Retail sales climbed 1.7% compared to a year ago, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday.
The strong spending data comes on the heels of a blockbuster September jobs report, and further solidifies assessments that the US economy is strong and that the Federal Reserve may not need to cut rates as steeply or quickly as previously thought.
Weekly jobless claims were lower than expected at 241,000, a 19,000 decline from the week before, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. Economists had forecast 260,000 weekly claims.
Here’s where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 5,873.45, up 0.53%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 43,279.21, up 0.47% (+201.51 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 18,523.24, up 0.85%
Meanwhile, a highly anticipated report from chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company came in strong, showing net income surpassed estimates while net revenue for the quarter rose 36% compared to the same last year.
“We have talked to our customers all the time, including our hyperscaler customers who are building their own chips. And almost every AI innovator is working with TSMC,” TSMC chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said.
Shares of TSMC rose 7% after the opening bell, pulling other chip stocks higher. Nvidia was up almost 2%, and AMD was up over 1%.
TSMC’s optimism about demand for AI tech follows a chip sector sell-off earlier this week when chip machine maker ASML slashed its sales guidance on weaker demand from chipmakers.
TSMC joins a string of strong earnings reports this week. Morgan Stanley and United Airlines posted strong results on Wednesday. Netflix will report third-quarter results after the close on Thursday.
Here’s what else is going on Thursday:
- A number of bank research desks are boosting their S&P 500 price targets in recent weeks as the bull market charges on.
- China could raise nearly $1 trillion of fresh debt in the next 3 years to revive its economy, according to a report from Caixin Global.
- The US freight recession is showing early signs of recovery as trucking company JB Hunt posted a rare earnings beat on Tuesday.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- Oil futures fell. West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.2% to $70.22 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.3% to $74.01 a barrel.
- Gold rose 0.33% to $2,700.4 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield was up six basis points to 4.075%.
- Bitcoin dipped 1.5% to $66,761.
