Stocks finished higher Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its seventh winning day, amid hopes for Federal Reserve cuts later this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 323 points, or 0.85%, to close at 39,387.76, while the S&P 500 gained 0.51% to 5,214.09 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.27% to 16,346.26.
Caterpillar (CAT) and Home Depot (HD) were the Dow's top gainers, with both gaining more than 2%.
Jobless claims totaled a seasonally adjusted 231,000 for the week ending on May 4, up 22,000 from the week before and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 214,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
It was the highest claims number since Aug. 26, 2023, CNBC reported.
Updated at 1:06 PM EDT
Solid bond auction
The Treasury wrapped-up the third of its three coupon bond auctions Thursday with a $25 billion sale of new 30-year bonds that again drew solid interest from foreign buyers.
The sale attracted bids worth just over $60 billion, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.41, just ahead of the six-auction average of 2.38 and the 2.37 level recorded last month. Indirect bidders, which are mostly comprised of foreign central banks, took down 64.9% of the sale, with dealers holding onto around 15.36%.
30 year treasury auction results
— Kevin Green (KG), MSDA (@KGBULLANDBEAR) May 9, 2024
Offering Size: $25B
High Yield: 4.635%
Bid-to-cover 2.41 vs 2.37 previous
Dealer Takedown 15.36%: vs 17.34% previous
Strong auction
Updated at 12:08 PM EDT
Amazon primed
Amazon (AMZN) shares hit a fresh record high of $191.29 each Thursday, and were last marked 1.2% higher at $190.28 each, pegging their 2024 advance at around 27% and their market value at just under $2 trillion.
Amazon posted better-than-expected first quarter earnings on April 30, with revenues rising 13% from last year to $143.3 billion. Amazon Web Services revenues, meanwhile, rose 17% to $25 billion.
Related: Analysts adjust Amazon stock price target after earnings
Updated at 11:20 AM EDT
Back in the green
The S&P 500 was last marked 18 points, or 0.36% higher on the session and trading at 5,205.96 points just 40 points south of its mid-march all-time high.
The Dow, meanwhile, was marked 181 points higher and moving towards the 40,000 point mark while the Nasdaq gained 33 points, or 0.21%.
Related: Will stocks set record gains during a Fed interest rate pause?
Updated at 9:45 AM EDT
Mixed open
The S&P 500 was little-changed in the opening minutes of trading, falling just 3 points, or 0.05%, while the Dow slipped 40 points and the Nasdaq fell 11 points, or 0.07%.
Benchmark 10-year notes yields were holding at 4.984% while 2-year notes were pegged at 4.822% following the surprise jump in weekly jobless claims.
"Time will tell whether it’s a one-off or part of a genuine cool-down in the labor market," said Chris Larkin, managing director for trading and investing at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. "In the meantime, the markets are likely looking ahead to next week’s CPI and PPI numbers."
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (May 09, 2024)$SPY +0.09% 🟩$QQQ +0.12% 🟩$DJI -0.13% 🟥$IWM +0.08% 🟩 pic.twitter.com/Ptidmm58qd
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) May 9, 2024
Updated at 8:39 AM EDT
Job cracks
Around 231,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department reported, the largest tally since August of last year and one of the first notable cracks in the otherwise resilient job market.
Benchmark 10-year note yields eased 2 basis points to 4.494% following the data, while the dollar index pared earlier gains to 105.551
Stock futures also improved, with the S&P 500 called just 3 points lower and the Dow looking at a 50 point decline.
US jobless claims grew 22k to 231k last week. The inured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.2%. Continued claims grew 17k to 1.785 mil.
— MTS Insights (@MTSInsights) May 9, 2024
Last week's initial claims total is up 2.7% YoY and the highest since Aug 2023.#ui #unemployment (US Dept of Labor) https://t.co/eT6a6xoJwA pic.twitter.com/OxuNerGF2H
Updated at 7:25 AM EDT
Maxed out
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shares moved lower after the media group posted a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss and softer advertising revenue.
WBD, which owns the Max streaming service as well as a Hollywood studio unit, saw revenue fall 7% from a year earlier to $9.96 billion, with an overall loss of 40 cents per share.
Shares in the group were marked 1.92% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $7.63 each following the earnings release.
Warner Bros. Discovery double miss:
— The Transcript (@TheTranscript_) May 9, 2024
CEO: "We delivered meaningful growth in our streaming business with a nice acceleration in ad sales, generating nearly $90 million in positive EBITDA for the quarter"$WBD: -1.9% PM pic.twitter.com/QaZR4Aq5Iu
Updated at 7:14 AM EDT
Bank of England
The Bank of England kept its key lending rate unchanged at 5.25%, the highest since 2008, for a sixth consecutive session following a 7-2 vote of its nine-member rate-setting committee Thursday in London.
The widely expected decision also included update growth and inflation forecasts that suggest the consumer-price index will fall to the bank's 2% target in February of next year.
Bank of England hold interest rates at 5.25%, their highest level for 16 years - follow live to see what it means for you https://t.co/HyHh2A2PmV
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) May 9, 2024
Stock Market Today
Stocks ended little changed on Wednesday, although the Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its run of consecutive session gains to seven, amid easing Treasury yields and solid corporate earnings.
A solid auction of $42 billion in new 10-year notes Wednesday, which drew bids of nearly $105 billion and upsized interest from foreign buyers, added to the downside moves in yields and provided further support for stocks.
Overnight markets showed 10-year notes rise to 4.514%, however, with 2-year notes pegged at 4.851%, ahead of weekly jobless claims data prior to the opening bell.
The Treasury will sell $25 billion in 30-year bonds later in the session, with results expected at around 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time.
The U.S. dollar index, meanwhile, strengthened to 105.682 against a basket of its global peers as the yen retreated to 155.92 amid renewed speculation of currency market intervention from the Ministry of Finance.
Global oil prices were back on the rise, as well, following better-than-expected trade data from China, which showed an 8.4% increase in imports into the world's biggest energy market over the month of April.
Spencer Platt/Getty
Brent crude futures contacts for July delivery, the global pricing benchmark, rose 45 cents to $84.03 per barrel while WTI futures for June delivery added 55 cents to $79.54 per barrel.
On Wall Street, Tesla (TSLA) shares were back in the red, falling 1.1% in premarket dealing, following a report that the carmaker is accelerating its recent round of job cuts with further reductions in China.
Robinhood Markets (HOOD) shares leaped 5.05% after the online brokerage reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue thanks in part to soaring volumes in cryptocurrency trading.
Airbnb (ABNB) shares slumped 8.6% after the online vacation-rental group forecast muted near-term revenue, which offset a stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings report.
On Wall Street, futures tied to the S&P 500, which is up 3.02% for the month, suggest an opening-bell decline of around 11 points while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial are indicating a 56-point pullback.
The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 45 points lower in premarket trading with Intel (INTC) , Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL) the most-active big-capitalization stocks.
More Wall Street Analysts:
- Analyst unveils new Nike price target ahead of big summer for sports
- Analysts weigh in on Google-parent Alphabet’s stock after cloud event
- Analysts revamp Disney stock price target after proxy fight
In overseas markets, Britain's FTSE 100 hit a record and was last marked 0.04% higher in early London trading ahead of the Bank of England's May rate decision later in the session.
Economists expect the bank to hold its key rate steady for a sixth consecutive month at 5.25%, the highest since 2008, while possibly signaling for a summertime rate cut as inflation cools and the economy continues to weaken.
Europe's Stoxx 600 slipped 0.12% in Frankfurt, after hitting an all-time high of 515.77 points during the Wednesday session.
Overnight in Asia, the better-than-expected April trade data, which included an overall surplus of $72.35 billion, helped lift China stocks into modest session gains, although the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan benchmark ended 0.35% lower.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was also in the red, falling 0.34% on the session to close at 38,073.98 points.
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