US equity indexes experienced gains as prospects of further stimulus from China lifted basic materials, alongside robust macroeconomic indicators that pushed government bond yields upward. The S&P 500 saw a rise of 0.2%, reaching 5,732.8, after achieving an intraday record high of 5,767.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.6% to 42,153.4, while the Nasdaq Composite made a 0.3% advance to 18,131.2.
Most sectors traded positively, with energy and real estate sectors being notable decliners. In Beijing, the Politburo reaffirmed its commitment to 'necessary fiscal spending' to achieve its annual 5% GDP growth target while supporting property markets, aligning with upcoming monetary easing actions from the People's Bank of China.
This has led to a remarkable 17% surge in the Hang Seng Mainland Property Index in Hong Kong, with copper prices also rising by 2.8%. Being the second-largest global economy, China is a significant trading partner for the US. Within the basic materials sphere, companies like Alcoa (AA), Southern Copper (SCCO), and Albemarle (ALB) emerged as top gainers with intraday increases of at least 8%.
The entire basic materials group saw a substantial jump of 2%. On the economic front, initial jobless claims in the US decreased to 218,000 for the week ending September 21, down from an upwardly revised 222,000 during the prior week, despite projections suggesting a rise to 223,000 according to a Bloomberg analyst survey.
The four-week moving average also saw a drop of 3,500 to 224,750. The growth of the US economy, measured through the GDP, remained unchanged in Q2 compared to a 3% increase, surpassing the expected 2.9% rise predicted in a Bloomberg survey. New orders for durable goods in the US remained stable in August following a significant 9.9% rise, with analysts initially forecasting a 2.7% decrease.
When excluding a 0.8% dip in transportation orders, new orders would have demonstrated a 0.5% uptick in August, contrasted with a minor 0.1% drop in July. The anticipated change was a modest 0.1% gain. Most US Treasury yields climbed, reversing an earlier decline in the session. Specifically, the 10-year yield increased by 2.5 basis points to 3.81%, and the two-year rate rose by 6.5 basis points to 3.62%. In the commodity market, West Texas Intermediate crude oil plunged by 2.8%, settling at $67.77 per barrel. According to reports from the Financial Times on Thursday, Saudi Arabia is considering abandoning its $100 per barrel official price target, and is ready for a phase of lower oil prices as OPEC+ inches closer to reinstating 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary production cuts back into the market by December. In company-specific news, Micron Technology (MU) reported late Wednesday a profit that surpassed expectations for fiscal Q4, driven by increasing demand for artificial intelligence, which pushed the memory and storage product maker's revenue beyond Wall Street's forecasts.
As a result, shares of the chipmaker surged 13% intraday, marking it as the top performer on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Gold prices increased by 0.3% to $2,693.50 per ounce after touching an intraday peak of approximately $2,708.70, while silver prices saw a 1% rise to $32.35..