US stock market: S&P 500 ends sharply higher, jobs data fuels interest rate optimism
Nvidia and other megacap growth stocks after a drop in monthly job openings cemented expectations of a pause in interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 logged its strongest one-day gain since June 2, while the Nasdaq notched its strongest session since July 28, and both indexes closed at more than two-week highs.
The sharp gains came after the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed the number of job openings stood at 8.827 million in July, falling for the third straight month and signaling easing labor market pressures.
Investors also parsed a report from the Conference Board showing consumer confidence in the United States fell to 106.1 in August, compared with expectations of 116.
Interest rate futures signaled an 87% chance the Fed will keep rates steady at its September meeting and a 54% chance it will keep rates on hold through November, according the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
«Investors are of the mindset that 'You know what, maybe interest rate hikes are indeed behind us.
So let's buy back into stocks,'» said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note eased to 4.11%, while that on the two-year note fell back below 5% after hovering around that level for the past few sessions.
The decline in yields supported growth stocks, with Nvidia climbing 4.2% to close at its highest ever.
Tesla rallied 7.7%, even after documents showed a U.S. regulator sent a special order to the electric vehicle maker asking questions about changes to the driver monitoring system for its Autopilot software.
Nvidia and Tesla led in turnover on Wall Street, with over $33 billion traded in each stock.
Alphabet received a 2.7% boost
