By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Thursday, extending the market’s recent rebound, as investors snapped up beaten-down chipmakers and big growth names and as oil prices dropped.
The Philadelphia SE semiconductor index, which is down sharply for the year, jumped on the day, while Apple shares rose for an eighth consecutive day after getting hammered earlier this month.
Nvidia Corp and Intel Corp climbed and helped to boost the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
Indexes in recent sessions have recovered from their lows. The Nasdaq earlier this month closed down more than 20% from its Nov. 19 record closing high and confirmed it was in a bear market.
“The bear market was the dip to buy,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has about $50 million in assets under management. “People finally said hey, this is a good entry point.”
“They are seeing more value in tech for the first time in a long time,” he said.
Oil prices fell after rallying sharply on Wednesday. [O/R]
Data earlier showed the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a 52-1/2-year low last week, while unemployment rolls continued to shrink.
Investors watched for the next developments in the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Western leaders have agreed to increase military aid to Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia whose invasion of its neighbor entered a second month.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 63.94 points, or 1.43%, to end at 4,520.18 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 270.44 points, or 1.94%, to 14,193.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 344.96 points, or 1.00%, to 34,703.46.
Discount retailer Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc shares rose after an upbeat outlook.
Uber Technologies Inc climbed after the ride-hailing firm reached a deal to list all New York City taxis on its app. Shares of rival Lyft eased.
(Additional reporting by Devik Jain and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy)