US stocks end higher after choppy session
The S&P 500 snapped a four-day losing streak on Thursday, finishing higher along with other major indices following a rollercoaster session. Lifted by solid earnings from chip company Nvidia, tech shares led the market in early trading. But stocks swooned in the middle of the day before recovering. Equities have been under pressure this week amid worries that the Federal Reserve will prolong a period of aggressive interest rate hikes. But the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note edged lower after flirting with four percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.3 percent higher at 33,153.91. The broad-based S&P 5000 climbed 0.5 percent to 4,012.32, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.7 percent to 11,590.40. Commerce Department data on Thursday showed the US economy grew in the last quarter of 2022 at a rate of 2.7 percent, annualised, lower than the 2.9 percent increase originally reported. The report comes ahead of Friday's reading on the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which is a key data point for the Fed. Traders are now fixating on a scenario in which the Fed undertakes quarter-point interest rate increases in March, May and possibly June, Oanda's Edward Moya said in a note. "With the Fed likely to deliver a few more rate increases, recession odds should be surging here," Moya said. "Disinflation trends will get their groove back over the summer and that will allow the Fed to back off from this tightening campaign." Among individual companies, Nvidia surged 14 percent despite reporting lower profits as its first-quarter revenue outlook topped estimates and executives expressed confidence about the growth of artificial intelligence technology. (AFP)