By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
Nasdaq Composite rose by 3.69% to 13,073.82, which made Tuesday the best day for the index since November 2020. The S&P 500 climbed by 1.4% to 3,875.44. As for the Dow Jones, it rose by 30.30 points, or 0.1%, to 31,832.74.
On Tuesday, major stock market indices soared. Nasdaq Composite, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the S&P 500 rocketed, US tech stocks advanced as well, as investors rotated back into the technology sector.
Nasdaq Composite rose by 3.69% to 13,073.82, which made Tuesday the best day for the index since November 2020. Further, the S&P 500 climbed by 1.4% to 3,875.44. As for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, its gains were not as high, it rose by 30.30 points, or 0.1%, to 31,832.74.
Notably, along with the Nasdaq Composite climbing, US tech stocks soared. Among the biggest boosts were stocks included in FAANG and FANGMAN – Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB), NVIDIA Corp (NYSE: NVDA), Google llc (NYSE: GOOGL), and Microsoft Corp (NYSE: MSFT). Apple and Facebook jumped over 4% each, while Microsoft and Netflix both gained at least 2.5%. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), despite not being included in the lists, has surged as much as 19.6% after a five-day losing streak. The company increased its sales in China in February, which resulted in the stock’s surge.
Michael Sheldon, chief investment officer at RDM Financial, commented:
“Tech stocks are overdue for some kind of bounce after the downfall they have had so far with most investors maintaining a positive outlook (on them) in the medium to longer-term. Potential headwind for the market is if interest rates rise further from this point over the short period… since they have risen too fast in too little time.”
Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, stated:
“A lot of these tech stocks have become oversold on a short-term basis. Therefore, it’s not a big surprise that they’re seeing a nice bounce. The question will be whether this bounce is a strong one…or a ‘dead cat bounce’ that doesn’t last very long at all.”
Market Winners and Losers
Tech stocks were not the only ones that benefited from investors’ interest. Such Reddit-focused stocks as GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME), AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC), BlackBerry (NYSE: BB) rallied as well. For example, GME shares closed 26.94% up at $246.90 per share and continued to rally in the pre-market today. AMC stock ended the session 13.02% up, at $10.50. BlackBerry stock gained 7.18% on Tuesday to end at $10.45.
Meanwhile, some sectors suffered. The biggest losers were energy stocks as oil prices continued to fall. In particular, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) stock closed 1.54% down yesterday, at $59.93. Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A) shares dropped as well, closing at $43.20, or 0.35% down. Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX) stock plunged by 0.23% to $109.50.