Nov. 4 (UPI) — The S&P 500 rose for a sixth consecutive day on Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s announcement of plans to taper its bond-buying program and better-than-expected economic data.
The broad index rose 0.32% at the end of trading to notch another record high and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.77% for its own all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 68.65 points or 0.19%.
Markets were still reacting to the central bank’s announcement Wednesday that it would reduce its purchases by $10 billion for treasury securities and $5 billion for agency mortgage-backed securities beginning later this month, citing “substantial further progress the economy has made toward the committee’s goals since last December.”
“The Fed’s tapering announcement removes a minor but overhanging worry across markets as investors had been waiting for this moment for months, and it reinforces the view that the economic recovery has a long runway, albeit with a low rate of growth,” said George Ball, chairman of Sanders Morris Harris, according to CNBC.
Thursday also saw the Labor Department report that weekly jobless claims fell to 269,000, down 14,000 from the previous week and a new low for the COVID-19 era.
Markets got a boost from Tesla stock, which rose 1.32% and surpassed $1,200 per share for the first time.
Third-quarter earnings continued to pour in with Etsy stock skyrocketing 13.21% as it reported continued sales growth, while Qualcomm rose 12.73% after reporting better-than-expected earnings.
