NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 10, 2017 / U.S. markets rallied late to close up for the day on the 8th anniversary of the S&P 500's bear-market closing low on March 9, 2009. The S&P 500 Index has rallied nearly 250 percent since its low on March 9th. On Thursday, the S&P 500 Index fell by as much as 10 points before settling to close at 2,364.87, up 0.08 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a slight gain of 0.01 percent to close at 20,858.19. The S&P 500 is currently trading at approximately 18 times forward earnings estimates, compared to 25-year average of approximately 15 times, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

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Commodity prices pressured the indexes lower Thursday as U.S. oil prices settled below $50 a barrel for the first time in three months. The S&P Energy's sector has been the worst performer in the S&P 500 in 2017, falling roughly 8 percent year-to-date. Investors are eagerly awaiting Friday's job report to provide more optimism for a Federal Reserve rate hike in March. Expectations for a March rate hike currently stand at 90.8 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

"Now the question is does the Fed raise rates three times or more," said Jeff Zipper, managing director of investments at the Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank. "It does look like the market is priced in for three rate hikes at this time."

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Facebook' shares increased 0.38 percent to close at $138.24 a share on Thursday. The stock traded between $137.40 and $138.57 on 15.54 million shares traded. On Thursday, the company announced a new feature to its popular Facebook messaging app that allows senders to edit photos and videos with graphics and special effects, which are similar to Snapchat. As of March 8th, Facebook had a market capitalization of nearly $400 billion.

"Day, as its name indicates is all about your day, and it's meant to enable you to either share context of what's happening in your life today, or kickstart making plans with friends by letting them know what you're up to," wrote David Marcus, who leads Facebook Messenger in a social media post.

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Snap's shares declined 0.44 percent to close at $22.71 a share on Thursday. The stock traded between $22.51 and $23.68 on volume of 25.80 million shares traded. FBN Securities analyst Shebly Seyrafi in a note to clients stated that Facebook would "love" to acquire the Snap if shares were to drop to $14. "One of the key points that the bears on Snap may be missing is that we believe that Facebook would love to acquire the company, and could be willing to pay $20B+ ($14/share) for the asset," wrote Seyrafi, which he reiterated was purely speculative in an email to Business Insider. FBN Securities currently has a ?hold? rating on the stock with a price target of $23. No analyst has provided the equivalent of a "buy" rating on Snap yet. Shares of Snap have fallen approximately 7.23 percent since its initial public offering on March 3rd.

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Today's Coverage:

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP)

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