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Wall Street rallied Thursday after falling oil prices and yields in the bond market eased the pressure on U.S. stocks. Banks, small companies and other stocks that had earlier been left behind by the euphoria around artificial-intelligence technology led the way. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% for its 10th gain in the last 11 days, a day after dropping from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 874 points (1.7%) to a record and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. Stocks got a lift from a 2.8% drop for the price of Brent crude oil to $95.03 per barrel. That gave back a chunk of its rise from this week caused by the latest flare-ups of fighting between Iran and the United States and its allies. They helped to more than make up for losses by some AI stocks, which took a sudden back seat after dominating the market. Reports on the U.S. economy, meanwhile, came in mixed. One said that slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week which could indicate a slowdown in the relatively solid U.S. job market. Broadcom sank 12.6% even though both profit and revenue for the chip company surpassed analysts' expectations. CEO Hock Tan said its AI semiconductor revenue more than doubled to $10.8 billion during the quarter and that demand is only getting bigger. He is forecasting AI semiconductor growth to top 200% in the current quarter. Analysts have been saying AI stocks may have run too high, becoming too expensive and that the broad U.S. stock market may be set for a slowdown following an unrelenting streak of nine straight winning weeks for the S&P 500, its longest since 2023. Micron Technology the latest company to see its total value top $1 trillion because of AI euphoria, fell 7.7%. CrowdStrike Holdings dropped 3.8% even though the cyber-security company's profit and revenue for the latest quarter topped analysts' expectations. PVH Corp., the company behind the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, tumbled 20.2% even though it also beat Wall Street's first-quarter sales and profit targets. CEO Stefan Larsson warned that it's feeling 'the prolonged effects of the Middle East conflict, which is putting pressure on' customers in the region. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.47% from 4.49% late Wednesday as oil prices sank. Lower yields can make it less expensive for companies to borrow cash, which many smaller companies need to do to grow. Powered by Capital Market - Live News
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