The U.S. Labor Department reported an increase in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week. But the data indicates a tight U.S. job market even as the Fed works to cool demand for labor in its bid to lower inflation.The Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes have hammered equities this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 shedding 19.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbling nearly 33 percent.
However, investor preference for high-dividend yielding stocks with steady earnings has limited losses in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is down just 8.5 percent for the year.The Dow rose 345.09 points, or 1.05 percent, to 33,220.8; the S&P 500 gained 66.06 points, or 1.75 percent, at 3,849.28; and the Nasdaq Composite added 264.80 points, or 2.59 percent, at 10,478.09.
For 2022, Tesla’s 66% slump and Amazon.com’s 50 percent drop played a big part in the S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector’s 38% loss. Some $1.6 trillion worth of shareholder value evaporated after investors abandoned high-growth stocks with pricey earnings multiples.