Wall Street ends sharply higher, led by Tesla and Nvidia

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Thursday, led by Tesla, Nvidia and other mega-cap growth stocks in a choppy session ahead of a key jobs report due on Friday.

Tesla, Nvidia and Meta Platforms each rose sharply, fueling gains in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

Nearly all of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes climbed, led by consumer discretionary and communication services.

US stocks recovered from a drop earlier in the day after Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said she backs at least a couple more half percentage point interest rate hikes, and sees little case for pausing rate hikes in September if price pressures fail to cool.

The US stock market has staged a modest recovery in recent sessions, with investors debating whether the worst of a selloff that has dominated Wall Street in 2022 may be over.

“Volatility has become the norm, not the exception. Stocks are being held hostage by inflation, and until inflation gets under control, volatility is likely to remain high,” warned Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The S&P 500 is now down about 13% from its record high close in early January.

US private payrolls increased far less than expected in May, suggesting demand for labour was starting to slow amid higher interest rates and tightening financial conditions, the ADP National Employment report showed.

All eyes are now on the government’s non farm payrolls data on Friday, with investors looking for fresh signs of the US economy’s health and how aggressively the Fed may continue to raise interest rates.

Analysts are expecting the economy to have added 325,000 jobs last month.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 75.59 points, or 1.85%, to end at 4,176.93 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 321.96 points, or 2.68%, to 12,316.42.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 422.86 points, or 1.29%, to 33,236.09.

Microsoft was up for much of the day, even after the software maker cut its fourth-quarter forecast for profit and revenue, making it the latest US company to warn of a hit from a stronger US dollar.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co slid after the technology firm gave a disappointing full-year forecast due to currency headwinds and its exit from Russia.

Veeva Systems rallied after the life sciences software seller’s quarterly revenue forecast beat expectations.

Ford Motor Co rose after the automaker said it plans to invest $3.7 billion in assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri.