US STOCKS-Wall St ends higher as Yellen vows actions to safeguard deposits

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) – Wall Street see-sawed to a higher close on Thursday as market participants were reassured by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s reassurances that measures will be taken to keep Americans’ deposits safe.

“You watch this market and you watch it change direction in a short period of time and it's based on some market participants' interpretation over what someone said and how it affects how their trading,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.

“The market as a whole is telling you is there are a lot of different ways to interpret all the things people are saying.”

The session followed Wednesday’s boom-and-bust moves after the Fed’s rate hike, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s subsequent Q&A session and Yellen’s testimony before Congress in which she ruled out blanket protection for all deposits.

Interest rate hikes by central banks around the world have stressed the banking sector, which became manifest with the recent failures of SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank.

Jitters among regional banks persist.

Comments from the Bank of England that inflation will probably quickly fade also helped fuel hopes of light at the end of the central bank tightening tunnel.

“Every central bank that was on path to raise rates raised them,” GLOBALT’s Martin added. “Therefore they've all identified that inflation is currently the most important issue and poses the most risk to the system, whereas the effect of higher rates on financial stability isn't as much of a concern – although it remains highly concerning.” According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 11.12 points, or 0.28%, to end at 3,948.09 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 116.85 points, or 1.00%, to 11,786.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.08 points, or 0.21%, to 32,096.19.

Shares of First Republic Bank dropped in volatile trading in the wake of Yellen’s testimony.

Chipmaker Nvidia Corp advanced after Needham raised its price target.

Block Inc shares slid after Hindenburg Research disclosed its short positions in the company.

Crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc tanked in the wake of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s threat to sue the company.

Accenture surged after it announced plans to cut about 2.5% of its workforce. (Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru Editing by Marguerita Choy)