Tech leads US stocks higher as Google soars and traders eye big November jobs report

• US stocks climbed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq moving higher.
• Shares of Alphabet jumped as Google rolled out Gemini, its answer to ChatGPT.

US stocks rallied on Thursday ahead of a key report from the Labor Department due Friday.

The S&P 500 notched its first day of gains after three consecutive losing sessions, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained more than 1%, aided by fresh AI excitement generated by Google.

Google-parent Alphabet surged as much as 6.4% following the company's announcement of its ChatGPT competitor, Gemini. The stock closed 5.34% higher at $138.45 a share.

Markets are coming off a softer-than-expected job openings and private payrolls reading earlier in the week, fueling further bets that interest rates are set to come down next year.

"There's nothing to see here — jobs market remains strong, but there are clear signs outside the data that things are changing," Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group said in a note regarding weekly jobless claims. "We will soon be grappling with outright job cuts in size and it's going to catch a lot of people by surprise."

Friday's employment data will give central bankers one further data point to inform their monetary policy decision at the December FOMC meeting to be held next week.

Here's where US indexes stood as the market closed at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 4,585.59, up 0.8%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 36,117.57, up 0.18% (+63.14 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 14,339.99, up 1.37%

Here's what else is going on:

• Investors love Google's answer to ChatGPT.
• Jeremy Grantham's GMO divided the mega-cap tech stocks into winners and losers.
• SEC Chairman Gary Gensler cautioned that an AI herding effect could drive markets off "an inadvertent cliff."
• Bank of America said the 10-year Treasury yield could plunge further to hit its lowest level in two years.
• The steepest mortgage-rate plunge since 2008 is boosting homebuilder stocks to fresh highs.
• Janet Yellen said bond-market moves can complement the Fed's monetary policy.
• ETFs are nearing the highest number of closures ever as buzzy concepts go bust.
• Here are the three catalysts set to propel stocks higher in 2024.
• Mohamed El-Erian said markets could be delaying rate cuts by ignoring the Fed's signals.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices were slightly higher following Wednesday's steep plunge, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.4% to $69.66 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, moved up 0.16% to $74.43 a barrel.
• Gold edged lower 0.08% to $2,046.20 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield edged up two basis points to 4.144%.
• Bitcoin dipped 1.9% to $43,108.