Tech Stocks Lead Climb

Retail sales report helps confidence
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 17, 2022 3:53 PM CDT
Retail Sales Report Gives Boost
Trader Colby Nelson works on the floor Tuesday on Wall Street.   (Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP)

Stocks rose steadily throughout the day and ended Tuesday with broad gains as traders got back to buying again after a mostly miserable few weeks on Wall Street. Tech giants like Apple and Microsoft were among the biggest winners, and video game maker Take-Two Interactive jumped after forecasting better results than analysts were expecting, the AP reports. Paramount soared after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a new stake in the media company. The S&P 500 rose 2%, 4,088.85, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.8%, reaching 11,984.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 431.17 points, or 1.3%, to 32,654.59. Small-company stocks rose more than the rest of the market, a signal investors are feeling bullish on the economy. Treasury yields rose.

The solid gains on Tuesday come as the broader market struggles to break a six-week-long slump. The Commerce Department said US retail sales rose 0.9% in April. The increase was driven by higher sales of cars and electronics and by more spending at restaurants. The upbeat report helps allay some concerns on Wall Street about persistently high inflation crimping consumer spending and about the possibility that the economy could slip into a recession. "The retail sales report really gave a boost of confidence to investors that consumers are doing well," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. "As long as consumers stay strong the chance of us going into a recession in 2022 are very low."

(More stock market stories.)

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