By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The S&P 500 rebounded Wednesday as bargain-hunting investors swooped in to scoop up beaten down reopening stocks following a rout a day earlier.
The S&P 500 was up 0.32%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.74%, or 238 points, the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.31%.
The reopening trade – bullish bets on stocks tied to the progress of the economic reopening – was back in demand as investors sidestepped global growth jitters to snap up airlines and cruise lines.
United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) and Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) were up more than 2% each. Carnival (NYSE:CCL) and Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) gained more than 4% with the latter reporting second-half bookings in-line with guidance.
Cruise lines on Wednesday urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to allow a phased renewal of sailings from U.S. ports in early July.
Energy stocks were among the biggest gainers sectors as oil prices rebounded, shrugging off data showing a surprise weekly build in U.S. stockpiles.
Crude oil inventories climbed 1.9 million barrels last week, compared with economists forecasts for a draw of 272,000 barrels.
The backdrop of mostly weaker economic data following underwhelming durable goods orders and marketing activity data did little to stifle the climb in cyclicals amid optimism the recovery remains on track.
"We expect that there will be a broad rebound next month that will reflect a resumption the ongoing rotation into industrial capex investment from tech-oriented orders," Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) said.
Beyond cyclicals, tech stocks were under pressure as the slump in U.S. bond yields steadied, with United States 10-Year yield trading modestly in the green, though still below 1.7%.
The so-called Fab 5 tech stocks, with exception of Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), were in the red. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) fell.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), meanwhile, gave up its gains after rising 5% as the chipmaker unveiled a $20-billion spending plan to build two new factories that will bolster the U.S. chip supply chain to some of the biggest firms including Microsoft and Google.
In other news, GameStop (NYSE:GME) fell 20% after the company said it would tap shareholders for more money via an equity offering and reported fourth-quarter results that fell short expectations. The company also failed to provide an update on its plans to pivot to digital.
Still, Wall Street appears to be warming up to Gamestop's recent jump in valuation. Jefferies upgraded its price target on the stock to $175 from $15, though maintained its hold rating.
The rebound for the broader market comes as analysts caution choppy trade ahead.
" The markets are trying to find their next direction / path here- and will typically trade in a choppy, range-bound manner until they do so," Janney Montgomery Scott said in a note. " Our work currently suggests that despite any oversold rallies ahead, investors should remain on guard for further volatility ahead."