US stocks had their best trading day since November 2022, as a surprise drop in unemployment claims helped ease concerns about a slowing economy. The benchmark S&P 500 index ended the day 2.3% higher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.8%, and the Nasdaq jumped 2.9%.
Stocks in Asia also made modest gains, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and South Korea’s Kospi rising by more than 1%. However, Japanese stocks on the Nikkei 225 and the Topix were mostly flat, following their worst day since 1987 earlier in the week.
“The latest jobless claims data, though not normally a major market event, supports the view that recent pessimism may have been overdone,” said a report by the chief investment office of UBS Global Wealth Management. Official figures from the US Labor Department showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the US had fallen more than expected to 233,000 last week.
Despite the apparent recovery in global markets, analysts warn that trading will likely remain choppy for the time being. “The market volatility is creating trading opportunities for investors over the short term,” said Peter McGuire from trading platform XM.com. “It will be a bumpy ride over the election season and we all await the US Federal Reserve policy decision in September.”
The Federal Reserve held off cutting interest rates last week, in contrast to other central banks such as the Bank of England. However, this week’s market upheaval stoked further speculation about when – and by how much – the Fed will cut borrowing costs. “[The] Fed is now likely to cut rates up to 50bps in September which in turn supports expanding valuation for the market,” said Jun Bei Liu, Portfolio Manager at Tribeca Investment Partners.
