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Stock market news today: Nasdaq leads market rally ahead of crucial jobs data

Karen Friar and Josh Schafer
·1 min read

Tech stocks led the major averages higher on Thursday as investors looked again to labor market data for signposts to the path of interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lagged the other major averages, rising about 0.2%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) popped 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) pointed to a rebound for tech stocks, rising nearly 1.4%.

Signs this week that the labor market is finally getting back to normal point to the Federal Reserve's anti-inflation interest rate hikes as having their desired impact. With a soft landing for the economy looking more likely, traders have been betting on a Fed policy shift to cut rates.

Read more: What the Fed rate-hike pause means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards

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Tech stocks led the gains with Alphabet (GOOGL) shares surging more than 5% after the company launched new AI initiatives.

The latest weekly jobless claims data revealed 220,000 claims were filed in the week ending Dec. 2. The number came in line with what economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected and was up just 2,000 from the week prior, largely reflecting limited increases in layoffs.

But the crucial monthly US jobs report on Friday will be the real test of inflation and interest rate expectations before the Fed's last meeting of the year next week.

Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices.

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