US stocks close higher
Facebook stock recovers
Dow Jones ends 255 points higher
Late trading:
US stocks finished strong and ended the day higher by the last bell on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones posting a 254.69 point increase at 24,103.
The S&P 500 jumped 36 points at 2,641 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 114.2 points to 7,063. Up in Canada, the TSX finished 197 points higher at 15,367.
On the list of recovery stocks was Facebook(NASDAQ:FB), which gained 4.4% to US$159.79 after being dragged down earlier in the week by reports that Cambridge Analytica had accessed the personal data of 50m Facebook users.
Elsewhere, shares in the automaker Renault (EPA:RNO) jumped 5.79% at US$98.50 after it emerged that it is in talks to merge with its rival Nissan.
Amazon(Nasdaq:AMZN) also inched up by 1.1% at US$1,447.34 as by the market’s close it had deflected the news of President Trump’s twitter statement which lashed out at the online retailer for paying little or no taxes and using the “postal system as its delivery boy”.
On the list of stocks which fared less well in New York trading were Alliance Data Systems Corp (NYSE:ADS), which lost 4.1 per cent and Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq:WBA), a holding company that owns Walgreens and Boots, which was down 3.1%, a day after posting strong revenues.
Over on the Nasdaq, shares of LongFin Corporation, the blockchain group, continued to be pummeled, losing 48.8% over concerns about the possibility of a regulatory probe. Zosano Pharma (Nasdaq:ZSAN) also saw a dire fall of 45% on the news that the biopharma group had filed for sale of 10mln shares of common stock.
On the currency front, the euro stayed flat against the US dollar at US$1.2303 while the British pound fell 0.4% to US$1.4027. A barrel of West Texas oil cost US$64.93 at the closing bell while the yield on 10-year treasuries continued to slip, dropping by 4 basis points to 2.74%.
The price of gold held steady at US$1,325.60 per ounce.
Mid-afternoon trading:
US stocks were firmly higher at mid-session, looking as though they would end the quarter positively.
The Dow Jones was up around 228 points at 24,077, while the S&P 500 added over 27 at 2,632. The Nasdaq gained over 78 points at 7,027.
US markets and Canada will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday.
In Toronto, the TSX is up over 117 points at 15,287, while the Venture exchange is ahead by almost ten points at nearly 794.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.1 cents at US 77.48 cents.
But the S&P/TSX composite, the largest Canada market is still on track for its biggest quarterly drop in more than two years.
Suncor Energy Inc (TSE:SU) and Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) were among the top four risers to the index, adding 0.94% and 1.72%.
In New York, Galectin Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:GALT) added over 22% after it posted a 2017 loss of US$0.49 per share and revealed that it continues to remain in ongoing discussions with a number of pharma companies about potential partnerships.
Elsewhere, Titan Machinery Inc (NASDAQ:TITN) added 10.498% to US$21.82 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results
On the losing front, Zosano Pharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ZSAN) shed over 44% to US$5.12 as it confirmed the pricing of 10mln share offering at US$5 per share.
Today' session brings to an end trade for the first quarter - a volatile three months for the markets.
"The onset of the Easter holiday encouraged investors to take a well-deserved breather. It has been one ugly quarter for stock markets. VSTOXX, the popular measure of European stock market volatility dropped back below 20 after spiking above it earlier this week," noted Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group
"It has been a quarter of extremes. There has been record high market volatility coupled with record high levels of M&A activity.
"US stocks experienced the largest daily points drop on record as well as the biggest one-day gain in two-and-a-half years," he added.
OPEN
US stocks made a positive start on the last day of trading for the quarter.
The Dow Jones added over 114 points at 23,963, while the S&P 500 added over nine at 2,614.
The Nasdaq also gained around nin at 6,958.,
US crude - West Texas Intermediate - added 0.31% to stand at US$64.56 per barrel.
It came as new data showed that initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 215,000 for the week to March 24.
I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 29 March 2018
This is the lowest level since January 1973, the Labor Department said.
But Dennis de Jong at UFX.com said earlier: "President Trump will be watchful but not overly concerned with the latest jobless claims data.
"The Federal Reserve’s Monetary Policy Report stated last week that the labour market was at or a little beyond full employment, and they expect these conditions to be sustained."
In company news, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares lost 2.55% to US$1,394.88 as President Trump launched a tirade on the tech behemoth, saying it pays little or no local or state taxes and accused it of putting other retailers out of business.