Some people happy...

Stocks jump as Wall Street looks to stage comeback

By Krystal Hur

US stocks continued to gain Wednesday as investors tried to recover from the week’s bruising losses.

The Dow rose 438 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.9%.

CNN’s Fear & Greed Index, which measures seven barometers of market sentiment, remained at an “extreme fear” reading after falling to that level Friday.

Still, the Cboe Volatility Index — Wall Street’s fear gauge — which measures bets on expected stock market volatility, fell to 23 Wednesday morning. That’s well below the 65 level it touched during Monday’s session.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US benchmark for oil, rose 2% to $74.64 a barrel. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, ticked 1.8% higher to $77.83 a barrel.

Japanese stocks rose 1.2% on Wednesday, extending their rally after the benchmark Nikkei 225 index on Monday saw its largest daily percentage drop since 1987. Japan was also hit hard by the appreciation of the yen after its central bank last week raised interest rates for the second time in 2024.

US stocks on Tuesday rebounded slightly after recent labor and manufacturing data spurred worries about slowing growth in the US economy, fueling a painful selloff across global markets. The Dow and S&P 500 logged their worst day since 2022, with the blue-chip index closing more than 1,000 points lower.

“A global recession has been predicted on and off for more than 18 months and, at least in the US so far, has failed to materialize,” said Sean Frank, chief investment officer at Cloud Equity Group. “The best recommendation for investors remains the same: Diversify your portfolio.”

Even the market’s best-performing names, the Magnificent Seven tech stocks, saw steep losses during Monday’s session as investors fretted that artificial intelligence has yet to result in a boost for companies’ top lines. The Magnificent Seven companies lost $615.6 billion in value on Monday, according to S&P Global data.