Stock market today: Indexes trade mixed after hitting records as markets wait for Fed comments
Investors will get fresh commentary from five Fed presidents on Thursday. The S&P 500 is looking to extend gains after hitting fresh records.
Kena Betancur/Getty Images
- US stocks edged up on Thursday after the S&P 500 hit a record close in the previous session.
- Investors are awaiting fresh comments from several Fed presidents set to speak on Thursday.
- Jobless claims fell last week, with 220,000 people filing for unemployment benefits.
US stocks were slightly higher but struggled to meaningfully extend gains on Thursday after Wednesday's record-setting session.
The S&P 500 closed above 5,300 for the first time ever Wednesday, boosted by softer April inflation data. On Thursday, investors will hear from five Federal Reserve presidents, and will be listening for clues about the direction of interest rates after the first upbeat inflation report of the year.
Fed presidents Tom Barkin, Patrick Harker, Loretta Mester, and Raphael Bostic are set to speak throughout the day, with Fed president John Williams giving an interview before the opening bell.
"The overall trend looks reasonably good," Williams said regarding inflation during an interview with Reuters. Yet, he also noted that monetary policy is "in a good place" and that he doesn't feel in a rush to change the Fed's approach just yet.
Jobless claims were lower than expected, the Labor Department said Thursday. The number of Americans filing for state unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 in the week ending May 11.
The week's big meme stock rally appears to be over as GameStop and AMC continue to drop from highs earlier in the week.
We are in a bull market and people are showing some irrational exuberance (meme stocks) and dismissing bad news (slowing retail sales) and focusing on good news (slightly slowing inflation)," Chris Zaccarelli, CIO for Independent Advisor Alliance, said Thursday.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 5,311.70, up 0.1%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 39,886.78, down 0.1% (21 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 16,755.93, up 0.1%
Here's what else is going on today:
- Why one expert is suspicious of this week's big GameStop rally.
- Investors shouldn't be clamoring for rate cuts this summer, market vet Ed Yardeni says.
- Goldman Sachs thinks the stock market has peaked and will trade flat for the rest of 2024.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.7% to $79.15 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, ticked higher 0.5% to $83.13 a barrel.
- Gold dipped 0.5% to $2,383.30 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield was about flat at 3.354%.
- Bitcoin rose 3.8% to $65,971.