Stock markets extend gains as an end-of-year relief rally kicks off

By Daniel Shvartsman 

Investing.com - U.S. markets shot higher in early Thursday as investors looked to recover from a rocky couple days this week.

At 10:40 ET (15:40 GMT), the S&P 500 traded up 1.6% to 3845, while the NASDAQ Composite was up 2.4% at 10455. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 1% higher, and the Russell 2000 traded up 2.4%.

Initial jobless claims ticked higher last week as expected by economists, while continuing jobless claims came in slightly ahead of economist expectations. It's possible that investors digging for signs that the economy is slowing so the Federal Reserve can ease off their monetary policy tightening are reacting to that data, though it is just as feasible that after heavy tax-loss selling earlier this week, many went looking for bargains.

Befitting a positive day in the markets, most major stocks shot higher. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was up nearly 8% and above $121/share, as longtime bullish shop Morgan Stanley came out with a 'buy the dip' note, even as they cut their price target to $250. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) was up 4.7% in early trading and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was up 4%.

An exception to this bullish trend was Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM), which dropped 11.7% in early trading after its earnings report beat expectations, but included news of a meaningful price hike due to a rise in feed costs. Goldman Sachs traded up only 0.4% as reports came out from Bloomberg that the investment bank was planning another round of job cuts that will be 'unveiled in a matter of weeks'.

Crude Oil WTI Futures dipped again, down 1.7% to $77.6/barrel, with Brent Oil Futures down 1.5% to $82.75. Natural gas continued its precipitous fall, down 3.9% to $4.5.

The US Dollar dropped 0.3%, giving back yesterday's gains, with the EUR/USD up a corresponding 0.38% to $1.0648. Bitcoin traded around $16650, in line with its price through the week, as Cannacord made the case it could be years before we see a bitcoin bull market return. Gold bounced back up to $1825/oz, a .5% gain.

(Article posted at 10:11am ET, updated at 10:42am ET)