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On Thursday, the U.S. stock market finished higher for a second consecutive trading day.
The S&P 500 advanced 41pts (+0.62%) to 6824, the Nasdaq 100 rose 178pts (+0.72%) to 25082, and the Dow increased 275pts (+0.58%) to 48185.
On the sector front, the outperforming sectors were Consumer Discretionary (XLY), Industrials (XLI), and Consumer Staples (XLP) while Energy (XLE), Health Care (XLV), and Materials (XLB) underperformed the most.
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U.S. Economic Developments: |
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The PCE Price Index reported a 2.8% year-over-year increase in February, in line with expectations and consistent with January's growth rate. The Core PCE Price Index saw a slightly stronger 3% year-over-year gain in February, exceeding the 2.8% growth that was anticipated.
According to the final reading, the GDP Growth Rate for the fourth-quarter of 2025 came in at 0.5% on a quarterly basis, below the forecasted 0.7% growth. In February, personal spending rose 0.5%, falling short of the expected 0.6% increase. Additionally, personal income decreased 0.1% on a monthly basis, diverging from the predicted 0.4% growth.
Finally, the week ending April 4 saw 219,000 initial jobless claims, surpassing the estimated 215,000.
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Amazon.com (AMZN) rose 5.60% after the CEO said the company’s chips business is experiencing robust demand while AWS continues growing at a rapid rate but faces capacity constraints. The company also announced an additional $12 billion investment in Mississippi data centers, bringing the total commitment there to $25 billion.
Meta Platforms (META) and CoreWeave (CRWV) gained 2.61% and 3.49%, respectively, on a new $21 billion deal for AI cloud capacity through December 2032, increasing their total contracted business to $35 billion.
Tesla (TSLA) edged up 0.69% as the company will be developing a smaller, lower-cost electric SUV.
Constellation Brands (STZ) jumped 8.53% after reporting a smaller-than-expected decline in fourth-quarter sales.
Applied Digital (APLD) fell 7.99% after posting a third-quarter net loss per share of $0.36 versus $0.16 a year earlier, driven by higher costs.
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European indices were in the red. Germany's Dax fell 273pts (-1.14%) to 23806, France's Cac 40 dropped 18pts (-0.22%) to 8245, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped 5pts (-0.05%) to 10603.
On the economic front, Germany's economic data showed a mixed picture. Industrial production contracted by 0.3% in February compared to the previous month, defying expectations of a 0.2% increase and following a 0.5% decline in January. Additionally, the country's trade surplus narrowed to 19.8 billion euros in February, down from 21.2 billion euros in January and slightly above the 19.1 billion euros surplus that was forecast.
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Global Macro, FX & Commodities: |
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Rates & Risk Sentiment:
The VIX continued to fall on Thursday, dropping 1.55pts (-7.37%) to 19.49. At the same time, the US 10 year yield slid to 4.285%.
Precious Metals & Crude:
Commodities saw positive trading. Gold rose $55 (+1.17%) to $4771.12 while Silver gained $1.57 (+2.12%) to $75.69. Meanwhile, WTI Crude Oil advanced $4.41 (+4.67%) to $98.82.
The Dollar & Majors:
The dollar index fell 0.32pts (-0.32%) to 98.813.
EUR/USD rose 34pips (+0.29%) to 1.1696.
GBP/USD advanced 38pips (+0.28%) to 1.343.
USD/JPY gained 44pips (+0.28%) to 159.02.
USD/CHF slipped 8pips (-0.1%) to 0.7904.
AUD/USD increased 40pips (+0.57%) to 0.7083.
USD/CAD retreated 29pips (-0.21%) to 1.3817.
Digital Assets:
Cryptocurrencies continued to gain ground on overall market sentiment, with Bitcoin rising $946 (+1.33%) to $72324 and Ethereum adding $11 (+0.51%) to $2221.
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