US Stocks Snap 3-Day Losing Streak     12/07 15:33

   Wall Street rose Thursday to snap its first three-day losing streak since 
Halloween.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street rose Thursday to snap its first three-day 
losing streak since Halloween.

   The S&P 500 climbed 36.25 points, or 0.8%, to 4,585.59. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average added 62.95, or 0.2%, to 36,117.38, and the Nasdaq composite 
jumped 193.28, or 1.4%, to 14,339.99.

   Big Tech stocks helped power the market higher, led by a 5.3% leap for 
Google's parent company, Alphabet. They're Wall Street's most influential 
stocks because of their massive size, and they have been on huge tears so far 
this year.

   Cerevel Therapeutics also jumped 11.4% after AbbVie announced an $8.7 
billion deal to buy the company and its pipeline of candidates for 
schizophrenia, Parkinson's and other diseases. AbbVie added 1.1%.

   Wall Street has rallied toward its best level since March 2022 largely on 
hopes that the Federal Reserve is finally done with its barrage of hikes to 
interest rates, which are meant to get high inflation under control. That has 
anticipation high ahead of a report on Friday, the U.S. government's latest 
monthly update on the job market.

   The Federal Reserve wants to see the job market slow by just the right 
amount. Too much weakness would mean people out of work and a possible 
recession, but too much strength could add upward pressure on inflation.

   So far, anticipation is rising that the Federal Reserve can nail a perfect 
landing for the job market and overall economy. Inflation has been slowing 
since peaking two summers ago, and expectations are building that the Fed's 
next move will be to cut interest rates next year.

   A report on Thursday said that slightly more U.S workers applied for 
unemployment benefits last week, though the number is not alarmingly high and 
hit economists' expectations exactly. That had both stock and bond markets 
relatively calm and waiting for Friday's report, which could be more impactful.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.14% from 4.12% late Wednesday. 
It's been generally easing since topping 5% in October and hitting its highest 
level since 2007.

   The drop in the 10-year yield over the last month, including after 
accounting for inflation, is one of the reasons strategists at Goldman Sachs 
say the S&P 500 looks like it's trading "roughly in line with fair value," even 
after its nearly 9% rip higher through November. Expectations for a healthy 
economy have also helped boost stocks.

   But the path ahead could travel down one of several forks, depending in part 
on how quickly inflation cools and whether the Fed does cut rates by as much as 
traders are expecting. Goldman Sachs says traders "are approaching the limits 
of what could plausibly" be expected for rate cuts without a recession hitting 
in the near term.

   "We believe much of the optimistic scenario is already reflected in US 
equity prices today," the strategists led by Ryan Hammond wrote in a report.

   Since the Federal Reserve began its campaign early last year to drastically 
ramp up interest rates, traders have several times built up bets for an 
imminent halt to rate hikes and for potential cuts, only to be disappointed 
each time. While Federal Reserve officials have hinted recently their main 
interest rate may indeed be at a peak, some have said it's too early to begin 
considering when cuts could come.

   Hopes for easier rates help all kinds of investments, particularly those 
seen as the most expensive or promising big growth the furthest in the future. 
That's helped send Big Tech stocks to their huge gains this year.

   Alphabet's jump on Thursday brought its gain for the year so far to just 
over 55%. A day earlier, it announced the launch of its Gemini artificial 
intelligence model. The announcement made few waves on Wall Street initially, 
and Alphabet's stock slipped Wednesday, but analysts at JPMorgan said in a 
report they "are encouraged to see Google's progress on this major technology 
shift."

   Alphabet was the single strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward, but 
Apple, Amazon and Nvidia all also rose at least 1%.

   Another winner was JetBlue Airways, which climbed 15.2% after it said it may 
report better results for the final three months of the year than it earlier 
expected. It also slightly lowered the top end of its forecast for fuel costs 
during the end of 2023.

   Crude oil prices have been falling recently amid worries about demand from 
the global economy falling short of available supplies. The price for a barrel 
of benchmark U.S. crude slipped another 4 cents to settle at $69.34. It was 
above $93 in late September.

   Brent crude, the international standard, fell 25 cents to $74.05 per barrel.

   On the losing end of Wall Street, C3.ai tumbled 10.8% after reporting weaker 
revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

   In stock markets abroad, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.8% in Tokyo amid 
speculation about whether the Bank of Japan will ease off its ultra-easy policy 
on interest rates.

   Losses for stock indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were more modest.