Wall St Rises As Investors Buy Beaten-down Chipmakers, Tech Stocks

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Thursday, as investors bought beaten-down chipmakers and megacap technology shares while grappling with the fallout of Ukraine war as the United States and Britain further tightened sanctions on Russia.

Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors advanced, with technology, communication services and gaining more than 1%.

"A lot of that is when bargain hunters come out to start to buy the dip, they start looking for the sectors that have been the most beat up," said Arthur Hogan, chief market strategist at National Holdings Corp.

Tech titans Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc, Meta Platforms added between 0.4% and 2.7%, while chipmakers Nvidia Corp and Intel Corp climbed 8.6% and 5.4%, respectively, to provide the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

Meanwhile, in a show of Western unity, NATO offered Kyiv new military assistance and assigned more troops to its eastern flank.

While Britain slapped sanctions on more Russian lenders and the United States targeted dozens of Russian defense companies and members of the ruling class, the EU remained divided on more energy sanctions.

At 12:43 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 194.66 points, or 0.57%, at 34,553.16, the S&P 500 was up 36.45 points, or 0.82%, at 4,492.69, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 136.94 points, or 0.98%, at 14,059.55.

The Philadelphia SE semiconductor index rose 3.8% but is still down 11.6% so far this year.

Apple shares were set for eighth consecutive day of gains after getting hammered earlier this month.

Big banks rose with Wells Fargo up 0.7%. Banks have underperformed so far this month even as the U.S. central bank last week raised interest rates for the first time since 2018.

Concerns about aggressive interest rate hikes hampering economic growth have grown recently with several Federal Reserve officials talking about bigger rate increases to combat surging inflation.

"The war in Ukraine really exacerbates that concern around inflation and that inflation might be more persistent. The markets probably may not be fully pricing in the risk of a slower economy and slower profit cycle," said Carin Pai, head of portfolio management at Fiduciary Trust International.

Separately, data showed a measure of U.S. business activity increased to an eight-month high in March, fueled by strong demand for both goods and services, but Russia's war against Ukraine hurt sentiment.

Uber Technologies Inc climbed 4.5% after the ride-hailing firm reached a deal to list all New York City taxis on its app. Shares of rival Lyft fell 0.9%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.68-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.64-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 23 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 54 new lows.