Stock market news live updates: Stocks soar as October relief rally intensifies

U.S. stocks charged sharply higher Tuesday as Wall Street built on momentum from a broad market rally that began in the previous trading session.

The benchmark S&P 500 surged 2.9%, placing the index on track for its largest two-day gain since March 2020 and its strongest daily breadth reading since late 2018, per data from Bespoke Investment Group. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 750 points, or 2.5%, back past 30,000, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 3.2%.

Investors cheered on a fresh labor market reading that showed U.S. job openings slid by the most in nearly two and a half years in August — a welcome sign for Federal Reserve officials trying to tamp down outsized labor demand in the fight against inflation. The Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that job openings dropped 1.1 million to 10.1 million on the last business day of August.

Bonds rallied alongside stocks on Tuesday, with Treasury yields falling for a second straight day. The benchmark U.S. 10-year note tumbled to around 3.6% after topping a 2008 high of 4% last week. The U.S. dollar index also fell lower.

Equity markets kicked off the month on a high note Monday after an ugly September for the major averages. During the previous session, the S&P 500 soared 2.6% in its best day since July, the Dow rose 2.7% to mark its largest one-day gain since June, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 2.3%.

Nicholas Colas of DataTrek Research points out that the S&P 500 rarely rallies by over 2% in non-stressed market conditions, suggesting that Monday’s bounce was a sign of “fragility, not strength.” Between 2013 and 2019, for example, there were fewer than four such days in every year, while 2022 has had 14 so far.

“History strongly suggests that Monday’s 2.6% S&P rally is neither healthy nor a sign that the index has troughed,” Cola said, adding that reducing outsized volatility of the sort we have been seeing this year requires a shift by policymakers. “Markets have been trying to predict a turning point for Fed policy for months now, with as-yet little success given the ongoing strength in U.S. labor markets and still-high inflation.”

Story continues

A gauge of U.S. manufacturing from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Monday showed activity declined to the lowest since May 2020 – a contraction that stoked some optimism around a dovish Federal Reserve pivot. And adding to hopes central bankers may back off aggressive monetary intervention was a warning from a United Nations agency that policymakers may induce a global recession and a period of prolonged stagnation if they proceed with aggressive rate increases.

“Excessive monetary tightening could usher in a period of stagnation and economic instability,” the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a statement.

On the corporate side, shares of Rivian (RIVN) rallied more than 11% after the company reiterated it was still on track to produce 25,000 electric vehicles this year, affirming its previous guidance.

Poshmark (POSH) stock jumped 13% on news the second-hand fashion retailer is set to be acquired by South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. in a deal valued at $1.2 billion.

Oil also extended Monday’s gains after a report OPEC+ is mulling a hefty production cut. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil futures each rose more than 3% to $86.44 and $91.86 per barrel, respectively.

—

Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc

Click here for the latest trending stock tickers of the Yahoo Finance platform

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube