The S&P 500 recovers towards 4,600 as US stock market conditions remain rocky and unpredictable

• US stocks rose on Thursday, despite the lack of new fundamentals, as market conditions remain choppy and unpredictable.
• The S&P 500 rallied from the 4,500 low to approach the 4,600 level before the close.

US stock market conditions were mostly rocky and unpredictable on Thursday. The S&P 500, which sold strongly at the close on Wednesday and ended the session below the 21-day moving average at 4,510, bounced off early trading on Thursday and is now up almost 1.7% on the day at 4,590. The index has now cut its weekly losses to just 0.3%, though it is still trading around 3.5% below last week’s record highs near 4,750.

The Nasdaq 100 posted comparatively modest gains of less than 1.0%, with the index rebounding from lows below 15,800 to return above 16,000. Short-term and real returns continued to rally, easing the tailwinds from the duration-sensitive tech sector. The index continues to trade around 4.0% below the record levels reached on November 22. The Dow was up more than 2.0%. The CBOE S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) fell nearly 4.0 points to approach 27.0, more than 5.0 points below Wednesday’s 11-month highs above 32.0.

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