Nasdaq jumps more than 3% as Treasury yields ease; Dow surges 700 points

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 744 points, or 2.5%, to 30,236 and the Nasdaq rose 3.3%. Small company stocks also made solid gains. The Russell 2000 rose 3.3%.

The broad gains come as investors look for signs that central banks might ease up on their aggressive rate hikes aimed at taming the hottest inflation in four decades. Australia’s central bank made an interest rate hike that was smaller than previous ones.

European and Asian markets also made solid gains. Australia’s market jumped 3.8%.

Treasury yields continued to pull back from their multiyear highs, which has helped relieve some of the pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and many other kinds of loans, fell to 3.59% from 3.65% late Monday. It got as high as 4% last week after starting the year at just 1.51%.

Central banks are being closely watched as they raise interest rates to make borrowing more difficult and slow economic growth to try to tame inflation. Investors are hoping that they will eventually ease off their aggressive rate hikes and the move by Australia’s central bank is a hopeful sign for some.

Wall Street is worried that the rate hikes, especially the increases from the Federal Reserve, could go too far in slowing growth and send economies into a recession. The Fed has already pushed its key overnight interest rate to a range of 3% to 3.25%, up from virtually zero as recently as March.

Economic growth is already slowing globally and the U.S. economy contracted during the first two quarters of the year, which is considered an informal signal of a recession. The economy still has several strong pockets, including employment. Wall Street will get a more detailed look at the employment situation in the U.S. when the government releases its monthly jobs report for September on Friday.