S&P 500, Nasdaq rise to end 3-day losing streak as investors snap up tech shares: Live updates

The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 rose Thursday, snapping three-day losing streaks as investors resumed buying tech stocks.

The tech-heavy index rallied 0.95% to 13,630.61, while the S&P 500 rose 0.37% to 4,381.89 — both closing near session highs. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 4.81 points, or 0.01%, to 33,946.71.

“The Nasdaq is higher today but then again, it was off yesterday,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “Equities appear to be in pause mode. The tug of war between bull and bear market camps is balanced, which implies uncertainty and increased volatility for the foreseeable future.”

Investors snapped up some major tech stocks that got dinged this week. Tesla shares closed higher, despite falling earlier in the day, even after the second major Wall Street bank in as many days downgraded the high-flying retail trader darling. Shares have more than doubled this year. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, a longtime Tesla bull, revised his rating Thursday to equal weight from overweight. He said the stock presents “a more balanced risk reward” after its rally. Meanwhile, shares of Amazon were higher by more than 4%. Microsoft rose 1.8%. Apple hit a fresh all-time high late in the day, rising more than 1%.

Elsewhere, Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems dropped more than 9% after the company halted production in its Kansas facility. This follows a worker strike announcement, set to start Saturday. Separately, Boeing shares also dropped more than 3%, weighing on the Dow.

The S&P 500 slid 0.5% on Wednesday, marking its worst daily performance in June. The equity benchmark is now down 0.6% week to date, on pace to break a five-week win streak. This comes after the broader market index hit its highest level in more than a year last week.

Wednesday’s decline came as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said more rate hikes are likely ahead to combat inflation, pouring cold water on investors who had hoped the central bank was close to the end of its tightening cycle. The Fed kept rates steady at last week’s policy meeting after 10 consecutive hikes. However, officials indicated there could be two more quarter-percentage point increases this year.

“Markets are weaker because I think that they’re realizing that not just the Federal Reserve, but global central banks are not done, and are still actually fully committed to their inflation fight and will sacrifice economic growth if they need to,” said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors.

The Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday, its 13th consecutive increase. The decision follows this week’s latest inflation data for the U.K., which showed a higher-than-expected reading of 8.7% in May.