US: Stocks end up after three down days, Nasdaq up 2.7%

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks rebounded Wednesday following three losing sessions, with large technology companies back on the upswing after a pullback.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index finished at 11,141.56, up 2.7 per cent, bouncing back after shedding 10 per cent in the prior three days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.6 per cent to 27,940.47, while the broad-based S&P 500 jumped 2 per cent to 3,398.96.

The three-day rout stemmed from profit-taking amid concerns Apple, Amazon and other large tech companies that have prospered during the pandemic have risen too far, too fast.

But Gregori Volokhine, portfolio manager at Meeschaert financial Services, said the pullback had been too indiscriminate in its effects.

"You can't put all the companies in the same basket," said Volokhine, who said that some valuations such as Tesla's had gotten out of control.

"But you can't say the gains of companies like Apple and Microsoft have really lost a link to reality," he added.

Stocks have also been pressured in recent sessions by a stalemate over another US fiscal package to support the economy and rising trade tensions with China. Those have been countered somewhat by better-than-expected economic data, including Friday's solid US jobs report.

Investors took in stride the halting of a clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine candidate from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford after a volunteer developed an unexplained illness, viewing the move as a sign that safety standards are being respected despite pressure to produce a vaccine quickly.

Among individual companies, Tiffany dropped 6.4 per cent after LVMH announced it was unable to complete an acquisition of the company, saying it was directed by the French government to delay the transaction due to potential US tariffs on French products.

Tiffany filed a lawsuit against LVMH in a Delaware court, saying the French company has no basis to walk away from the merger.

AFP