US stocks gain momentum in a four-day winning streak
The S&P 500 was up 0.8% on Thursday, while the Nasdaq 100 added 1%. It was the fourth straight session where both indices gained. Small caps led major indices, as the Russell 2000 advanced 1.2%.
All major S&P sector ETFs rose. Communications services gained the most, up 1.9%. Mega cap stocks outperformed the market, with all Magnificent Seven stocks closed higher. Both Meta and Googleclimbed more than 2%.
Warner Bros. Discovery was the best-performing S&P 500 stock, up 10.4%. This came after Warner Bros. announced a multi-year distribution partnership with Charter Communications. Kroger rose 7.2%, after signaling confidence about its merger with Albertsons.
Conversely, Moderna dropped a whopping 12.4%, making it the worst performer within the S&P 500. The pandemic darling earlier slashed its research and development budget and cut its sales outlook.
The US producer index was up slightly in August, in line with expectations. Traders now bet on a 67% chance that the Fed would cut rate by 25 basis points next week, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Gold hit another all-time high. Oil continued its recovery after a sell-off earlier this week.