Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (+2.35%) is comfortably in the lead among the major average with about two hours to go on Thursday.

Gold futures settled $54.70 higher (+1.7%) at $3,348.80/oz, recovering from yesterday's dip. The gains were driven by bargain hunting and investor caution amid ongoing market volatility. The prior session's decline followed President Trump's retraction of his threat to dismiss Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his expression of optimism about a potential trade agreement with China, which had momentarily reduced demand for gold as a safe-haven asset.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index is now down -0.5% to $99.42.