OAN Staff James Meyers
11:09 AM – Thursday, August 15, 2024
The Dow jumped over 500 points and the Nasdaq increased 2% on Thursday as retail sales data indicated resilient consumer spending, somewhat calming fears of a possible recession.
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In midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 509 points, or 1.3% to 40,521, the S&P 500 gained 1.5%, and the Nasdaq went up 2.2%.
Tesla was also a big winner on Thursday, leading all mega cap and growth stocks, rising 6.1%.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, with consumer discretionary and materials leading gains.
Retail sales increased 1% in July after a downwardly revised 0.2% drop in June.
“The economy is not going into a recession imminently. This will take 50 basis points in September off the table. Still think that 25 basis points make sense just because inflation continues to ease,” said Steve Wyett, chief investment strategist at BOK Financial.
Additionally, Target jumped 4.8%, while Costco went up 2%.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending August 10th totaled 227,000, which is a drop of 7,000 from the previous week and below the estimated 235,000 from analysts.
Furthermore, other moves consisted of Cisco Systems rising 7% after it forecast better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and said it would be cutting 7% of its global workforce.
Athletic brand Nike climbed 3.3% as billionaire investor Bill Ackman built new stakes in the sportswear company. Ulta Beauty also jumped a staggering 111% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired a stake in the cosmetics store chain.
The last notable change was how Farm and tractor company John Deere gained 6% after beating analysts’ estimates for third-quarter profit.
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