Why Wall Street is muted on Thursday after its best day since November
Medora Lee
U.S. stocks dipped in early market activity, taking a breather after the major distribute indexes posted the largest daily percentage boost since Nov. 6 since Nov. 6 on Wednesday, amid cooling expense boost and powerful financial institution returns.
Investors mostly shrugged off a weaker-than-expected boost in December retail sales and a higher-than-expected jump in weekly unemployment claims. The Commerce Department said December retail sales rose 0.4%, smaller than Reuters’ average economist projection for a 0.6% jump, while weekly jobless claims rose 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000. Economists polled by Reuters had projection 210,000 claims for the latest week.
At 10:10 A.M. ET, the broad S&P 500 index was down 0.04% at 5,947.71; the blue-chip Dow was down 0.2% at 43,134.09; and the tech-laden Nasdaq was down 0.03% at 19,505.46. The point of reference 10-year profit inched up to 4.659%.
Banks rise again on returns
financial institution shares continued to boost as more powerful returns reports roll in.
financial institution of America and Morgan Stanley each reported fourth-quarter results that topped analysts’ projection with assist from their respective resource banking units. Those came on the heels of powerful quarterly results reports on Wednesday from JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.
Banks’ powerful returns reports, for now, are providing optimism “about the ability of companies and the U.S. economy to adjust to a higher gain rate surroundings,” said Samer Hasn, elder economy analyst at global agent XS.com.
Other stocks to watch
- UnitedHealthcare shares fell after the corporation missed quarterly returns forecasts in its first returns update since the killing of executive Brian Thompson.
- TSMC had a record quarter, driven by AI, and said it expects growth to continue. TSMC shares rose and boosted other semiconductor shares like Nvidia and Broadcom.
- BP said it will cut 4,700 internal and 3,000 contractor roles across its business as it trims costs.
- Target shares slipped despite raising its fourth-quarter sales guidance.
Trump’s Treasury pick
Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, is set for a grilling in the Senate starting at 10:30 a.m. ET. Tariffs, responsibility policy and apportionment deficits are expected to dominate discussions.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and expense management reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for expense management tips and business information every Monday through Friday morning.
