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Indexes up: Dow 3.11%, S&P 500 3.16%, Nasdaq 3.65%
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Broadcom ( AVGO ) gains after launching new share buyback plan
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Major health insures rise after Medicare payment rate
boost
(Updates after markets open)
By Shashwat Chauhan and Purvi Agarwal
April 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes on
Tuesday bounced back from a heavy selloff, led by technology
stocks, on hopes of the U.S. opening up for negotiations on its
aggressive tariffs.
Most megacap and growth stocks gained, with Nvidia ( NVDA )
and Meta Platforms ( META ) adding 5% each and Tesla
rising 4%.
The technology sector rose 3.5%, while indexes
tracking banks and semiconductor stocks were up
4% and 3.6%, respectively.
The CBOE Volatility index - seen as Wall Street's
'fear gauge' - retreated to 38.59 points after rising on Monday
to its highest level since August last year.
The small-cap Russell 2000 index was trading 2.5%
higher after three sessions of heavy losses.
"While today's market bounce offers some relief, trade
tensions remain the elephant in the room. With Trump threatening
a further 50% tariff on China and Beijing refusing to back down,
sentiment could turn quickly," said Lukman Otunuga, senior
market analyst at FXTM.
At 09:35 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose
1,190.19 points, or 3.11%, to 39,155.79, the S&P 500
gained 160.02 points, or 3.16%, to 5,222.27 and the Nasdaq
Composite gained 569.06 points, or 3.65%, to 16,172.32.
Since the reciprocal tariff announcement on April 2,
concerns over a global trade war and fears of a recession in the
U.S. have gripped Wall Street, with the three major indexes
hitting around one-year lows.
The Nasdaq confirmed a bear market on Friday, while
the S&P 500 and the Dow are down more than 15% from their
record-high closes.
Uncertainty lingered after China said it will never accept
the "blackmail nature" of the U.S. to Trump's threat to ratchet
up tariffs on Chinese imports to more than 100%.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview
to CNBC on Tuesday tariff negotiations are the result of calls
from other countries, not sliding financial markets, and China's
escalation is a big mistake.
Meanwhile, Trump said he discussed tariffs, among others, in
a "great" call with acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo.
Worries that the aggressive U.S. tariffs could spur
inflation and hamper global growth have led to greater pricing
of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Traders see more than 96 basis points of easing by the
December, implying three fully priced in 25-bps cuts and a 84%
chance of a fourth such a reduction, according to LSEG data.
A consumer price inflation reading is also due on Thursday,
which could offer more clues on the inflation trajectory.
Among individual stocks, chipmaker Broadcom ( AVGO )
advanced 7.4% after the company said it was launching a new
share buyback program of up to $10 billion.
Health insurer UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) gained 7.6% after
the U.S. announced 5.06% increase in payment rates to private
insurers for 2026 Medicare Advantage health plans.
Humana soared 11.7%, while Elevance Health ( ELV )
also gained 6.5%. CVS Health ( CVS ) jumped 8.4%. The insurer
named UPS executive Brian Newman as its chief financial officer.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 13.36-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 6.33-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq Composite recorded nine new highs and 24 new
lows.