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Stocks Rebound As US Economy Flexes Muscles, Small Caps Rally, Gold Falls: What's Driving Markets Thursday?

Benzinga ·  Jul 26 01:00

Wall Street strongly rebounded Thursday after Wednesday's slump, driven by stronger-than-expected economic growth in the last quarter, countering concerns of a slowdown.

The U.S. economy posted a notable 2.8% real growth in the second quarter, doubling the first quarter's pace and exceeding the 2% growth estimate.

Adding to the positive outlook, the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index showed cooling price pressures, dropping from 3.4% to 2.6%, signaling progress toward the 2% target.

At midday, major U.S. averages traded positively, with all eleven sectors of the S&P 500 posting gains. The S&P 500 index was up 1%, and the Dow gained a robust 1.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 inched 0.9% higher, while small caps, tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), rallied 2.4%.

Treasury yields fell significantly, with the 30-year yield down 6 basis points to 4.48%, boosting the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) by 1.8%.

Gold fell 1.6%, likely impacted by the rebound in riskier assets, silver plummeted 3.7%, while oil prices rose 0.7% to $77.80.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) fell 1% to $64,750, marking its fourth straight session of losses.

Thursday's Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major IndicesPrice1-day %chg
Russell 20002,252.162.4%
Dow Jones40,361.961.3%
S&P 5005,480.261.0%
Nasdaq 10019,202.700.9%
Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET

According to Benzinga Pro data:

  • The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.7% higher to $545.24.
  • The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 1.1% to $403.20.
  • The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (ARCA: QQQ) rose 0.5% to $465.53.
  • Sector-wise, the Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) outperformed, up by 1.9%, while the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) lagged, both up 0.6%.

Wednesday's Stock Movers

Stocks moving on earnings were:

  • Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG), down 2%.
  • Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) down over 29%.
  • Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) down over 16%.
  • International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) up nearly 6%.
  • Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) down over 1%.
  • ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) ORLY), up over 15%.
  • Kla Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) up 3.2%.
  • Teradyne Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) down over 11%.
  • Newmont Corp. (NYSE:NEM) down nearly 3%.
  • STMicroelectronics N.V. down over 11%.
  • O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) up over 4%.
  • AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) up nearly 4%.
  • American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) up over 6%.
  • AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) down 2.8%.
  • Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) up 1.9%.
  • Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) down 0.6%.
  • Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) up 3.8%.
  • Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ:HON) down over 4%.
  • Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) up 3.9%
  • Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) up 6.8%
  • RTX Corp. (NYSE:RTX) up over 8%.
  • Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) up 0.1%.
  • Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO).
  • Xerox Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:XRX) down over 7%.

Those reporting after the close include: SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW), Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR), Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NYSE:DECK), Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) and VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN).

  • Fed's Favorite Inflation Gauge Set To Drop To Lowest Level In Over 3 Years: Is July Rate Cut Possible?

Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.

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