Wall Street Close: Technology shares back Nasdaq to buck the post-Fed downtrend

• US equities closed mixed amid upbeat tech shares battle weaker US inflation expectations.
• DXY bulls keep reins, US Treasury yields, gold prices fall.
• FANG propelled Nasdaq, S&P 500 trim major losses but DJI drops 0.60%.
• US Jobless Claims rose, Philadelphia Fed activity data eased.

Despite recovering by the day’s end, US shares closed mixed on Thursday as markets digest the Fed’s rate hike signals. Even so, downbeat inflation expectations and Treasury yields help technology shares, which in turn back Nasdaq to tease the record high.

That said, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) loses the most, down 210.22 points or 0.62%, to 33,823.45 while S&P 500 came in second, despite the day-end recovery, with a loss of 1.84 points or 0.04% to 4221.84. Alternatively, Nasdaq emerged as the day’s clear winner with 121.67 points, or 0.87%, upside to 14,161.35.

US inflation expectations, per the 10-year breakeven inflation rate of the St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED), dropped to the lowest in three months, dragging down the US 10-year Treasury yield by 5.8 basis points (bps) to 1.51% at Thursday’s closing.

Talking about the data, US Initial Jobless Claims rose well beyond 359K forecast and 375K (revised) prior to 412K for the week ended on Jun 11. Further, Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey for June eased from 31.0 expected to 30.7.

It’s worth noting that shares of global technology leaders like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google, commonly known as FANG, rose anywhere between 1.0% and 2.0%. Further, global chipmaker Nvidia jumped over 5.0% after Jefferies upwardly revised the price target.

Moving on, a lack of major data/events can offer a dull closing to the week but any surprises, mainly relating to the Fed rates and/or infrastructure spending, won’t be taken lightly. It’s important to know that the US government’s announcement of a national holiday on June 19 backs Federal offices to stay off on Friday but bonds and shares will continue trading normally.

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