Wall Street returned to the upside on Thursday, with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's accommodative comments the previous day giving investors a renewed appetite for risky assets.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones rebounded by 0.4% to 39,296.2 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8% to 16,409.2 points, not far from its all-time high of 16,538.8.409.2 points, not far from its all-time high of 16,538.8 points.

The release of mixed economic data did little, if anything, to dampen hopes of a rapid Federal Reserve rate cut in June.

This morning, the Labor Department reported 221,000 new jobless claims last week, compared with 212,000 the previous week, a sign of the economy's recovery.000 the previous week, signalling a slight easing in the labor market.

Following yesterday's reassuring remarks by the Fed Chairman, investors are still by a large majority (58%) expecting the cost of credit to fall for the first time in June, according to the CME Fedwatch barometer.

Powell had already been behind Wall Street's sharp rise in March, when he twice assured investors that the Fed planned to cut rates three times this year.

Caution could, however, limit risk-taking as we await US employment figures for March, due out tomorrow.

The main beneficiary of the general rebound in equities, the high-tech sector, is once again at the forefront of the markets, with a 0.9% rise for its S&P index.

Among the tech heavyweights, Meta has gained more than 2.6%, buoyed by a positive recommendation from Jefferies, which raised its price target on the stock due to its lead in advertising applications.

The 'SOX' semiconductor index - often the driving force behind Wall Street's recent gains - also gained 0.7%.

The prospect of an easing of the Fed's monetary policy is also boosting other interest-rate-sensitive sectors, such as real estate (+1.1%).

Among stocks, Disney is back on the decline (-3.3%), with activist investor Nelson Peltz's failure to win seats on the board wiping out any chance of a more aggressive strategy on the part of the media group.

Wall Street's rebound is not leading investors to shy away from bonds, with the yield on 10-year Treasuries back towards 4.34%, nor from gold, which continues to peak at absolute highs.

Only U.S. light crude (WTI) is consolidating slightly, down 0.2% to $85.2 a barrel, following its rise in recent weeks, which has not prevented it from posting further gains of over 19% this year.

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