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Micron rises on upbeat 2025 sales view
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Lululemon leaps on strong annual outlook
(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended sharply
higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 jumping more
than 1% each as upbeat outlooks from Micron Technology and other
companies eased some worries about the economy.
Micron shares rose, boosting the Nasdaq and S&P 500,
and leading gains in the PHLX semiconductor index .
The memory chip maker late Tuesday forecast a drop in
third-quarter revenue in line with Wall Street expectations,
while it gave a rosy outlook for 2025 with artificial
intelligence boosting sales.
Adding to the optimism, Lululemon Athletica Inc jumped after an upbeat annual results forecast.
"We had a couple of good reads into the economy from a
couple of companies," said King Lip, chief investment strategist
at BakerAvenue Wealth Management in San Francisco.
"The big one is Micron Technology. Micron is sort of a
microcosm of the global economy because their chips go into so
many different industries and sectors. If they are optimistic
about things in terms of orders, that means the overall economy
is doing well."
The bulk of S&P 500 companies begin reporting on the first
quarter after mid-April.
Investors are also trying to gauge whether turmoil in the
banking system may be subsiding, and what that may mean for
Federal Reserve policy.
"People are feeling a little more comfortable with each day
that passes since we had the failures," said Michael O’Rourke,
chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford,
Connecticut.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 56.13 points, or 1.41%, to end at 4,027.40 points,
while the Nasdaq Composite gained 210.16 points, or
1.79%, to 11,926.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 327.24 points, or 0.99%, to 32,721.49.
The banking turmoil, which started earlier in March with the
collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, caused a swift selloff in the
sector shares and fueled jitters about the strength of the
economy.
Michael Barr, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision, told Congress
the scope of blame for Silicon Valley Bank's failure stretches
across bank executives.
Personal Consumption Expenditures data on Friday is the next
key U.S. economic report.
The Fed has been raising interest rates to control
inflation.
The CBoe volatility index , Wall Street's fear gauge,
fell.
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Lululemon surges after strong reoprt ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reportign by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by
Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas; Editing by Dhanya Ann
Thoppil and Vinay Dwivedi, and Aurora Ellis)
