The New York stock market, shaken by the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve (Fed) chair candidate, rebounded on bargain hunting.
On the 2nd (U.S. Eastern time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 49,407.66, up 515.19 points (1.05%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 37.41 points (0.54%) to 6,976.44, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 130.29 points (0.56%) to 23,592.11 at the close.
In particular, with the day's gains, the S&P 500 closed just short of its closing record high (6,978.60).
Among major tech firms, Apple rose 4.12%, and Amazon (1.49%), Alphabet, Google's parent (1.68%), and Walmart (4.13%) also gained. Nvidia fell 2.89% on uncertainty over investment cooperation with OpenAI. Microsoft (-1.61%), Meta (-1.41%), Tesla (-2.00%), and Broadcom (-0.06%) also declined.
Data showing that U.S. manufacturing activity expanded by the most since 2022 also lifted the market. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said the January manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) came in at 52.6, a sharp rise from 47.9 in the prior month. It was the highest since Aug. 2022.
Gold and silver prices extended their declines. According to Reuters, spot gold was transacted at $4,679.50 per ounce on the day, down 3.8% from the previous session. Spot silver also was transacted at $76.81 per ounce, down 9.2% from the prior trading day. During the session, spot silver widened its loss to as much as 15%.
International oil prices fell after President Donald Trump offered remarks hinting at the possibility of talks with Iran. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery settled at $62.14 per Barrel, plunging $3.07 (4.70%) from the prior session. Airline stocks rose across the board on the tailwind of cheaper oil, with United Airlines up 4.92%.