Wall Street was in a good mood on Thursday, apparently comfortable with the level of uncertainty in the world right now. Unemployment claims came in at their lowest levels in more than half a century, and that helped to fend off fears that rising interest rates and inflationary pressures could bring about a recession in the near future. As of 2 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.11%) was up 260 points to 34,619. The S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.02%) rose 44 points to 4,500, while the Nasdaq rose 158 points to 14,080.
Among the stocks helping to lead the markets higher on Thursday, Uber Technologies (UBER -2.03%) stood out after making an interesting agreement that could help blur the lines within its ride-hailing business. Meanwhile, Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF -1.24%) continued to gain ground as the demand for key materials stayed on the rise. Let's look more closely at both.
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Uber says "Taxi!"
Shares of Uber Technologies were up more than 4% on Thursday. After proving that its business model could challenge conventional forms of on-demand transportation, the company decided to make a deal that embraces what was once arguably its biggest rival.
Uber announced that it had reached an agreement that will allow its app users to see licensed New York City taxicabs, as well as its own gig drivers. If Uber gets 100% participation from cab drivers, it could see its available rides jump by as much as 13,600.
The deal is part of a bigger strategy that it hopes will lead to every taxi driver being available on the Uber app within the next three years. The company claims that it added 122,000 taxis to its platform and is looking to extend partnerships to cover the entire U.S. market.
Uber has faced some of the same labor-shortage problems that many traditional employers have had to deal with, and that makes the collaboration with taxis make sense, even though they have traditionally competed against each other. It's interesting, though, to see Uber now wanting to take advantage of the potential gains of working with cab companies after having argued that its lower fares offered better value to customers for so long.
Cleveland-Cliffs keeps climbing
Meanwhile, shares of Cleveland-Cliffs were up even more sharply, gaining 12% in mid-afternoon trading. The company has made a big strategic shift over the past couple of years, going from being solely a supplier of iron ore and other materials for steelmaking to vertically integrating its business to become a steel producer. That earned the favor of stock analysts at JPMorgan, who boosted their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs by nearly 20% to $44 per share.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has dramatically affected commodities markets, and base metals have seen particularly sizable disruptions. That has, in turn, sent steel prices higher, which works to Cleveland-Cliffs' benefit. In particular, because the materials player took on substantial borrowings to buy steelmaking facilities, high prices for products come at a great time as the favorable environment gives it the ability to take available cash flow and use it to reduce debt levels.
At the same time, Cleveland-Cliffs has tried to be smart about containing costs. Steelmaking is highly energy-intensive, and the company has worked to keep operational expenses in check while still taking advantage of lucrative opportunities as they arise.
Many investors haven't spent much time looking at commodity-related stocks. Now, though, the sector is stronger than ever, and stocks like Cleveland-Cliffs can expect to be in the spotlight for quite a while.
