US: Stocks end three-day slide, Nasdaq +1.8%

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks staged a solid rally on Thursday, shrugging off three straight losing sessions as markets grapple with worries about inflation and monetary policy.

Tech shares led the broader market as investors weighed chances that the Federal Reserve could move soon to scale back asset purchases and shift away from highly accommodative monetary policy.

"I think there has been so much discussion about it that the odds are pretty good that it's discounted in the market," Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors said of a possible shift in Fed policy.

"I think it's inevitable and I hope they take the action," she added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.6 per cent at 34,082.90.

The broad-based S&P 500 won 1.1 per cent to 4,159.13, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.8 per cent to 13,535.09.

New filings for unemployment aid declined for the third straight week in the United States, government data showed, an indication of further progress in the labour market.

Among individual companies, Ford jumped 3.2 per cent after officially unveiling the all-electric version of its bestselling F-150 truck, an eco-friendly reinvention of the flagship American car brand.

But the Ford announcement weighed on electric-truck startup Lordstown Motors, which plunged 15.3 per cent.

Morgan Stanley advanced 0.6 per cent as it announced a series of executive promotions for potential successors to Chief Executive James Gorman. These include promoting Ted Pick and Andy Saperstein as co-presidents.

Kohl's sank 10.2 per cent on questions about the company's outlook, even as it boosted its projections for sales growth and earnings-per-share.

AFP