- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 600 points on Thursday, its worst day of 2024.
- Nvidia’s strong earnings and outlook helped push its shares higher, but the broader market fell sharply.
- Expectations of a rate cut receded as data from the services and manufacturing sectors showed inflation remained solid.
U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday after Nvidia’s earnings report and as traders grappled with renewed concerns about rising inflation and high interest rates.
Nvidia shares soared on Thursday, a day after the company reported earnings results that beat expectations and gave a strong outlook for the current quarter. The stock rose as much as 12%, eventually closing 9.3% higher at $1,037.99 per share.
That was the end of the bull market on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 605 points and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index dropping from recent highs. The declines came after new services and manufacturing PMI data beat economists’ expectations and suggested inflationary pressures on the U.S. economy were rising.
Additionally, jobless claims numbers were lower than expected, underscoring the continued strength of the labor market: 222,000 claims were filed last week, compared with the expected 220,000.
Thursday’s data put pressure on the outlook for rate cuts later this year, with market odds of a September rate cut falling below 50%, according to the CME FedWatch tool, making cuts in June and July virtually unlikely.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 4 basis points to 4.475%.
As of the close of trading at 4pm on Wednesday, U.S. stock indexes were as follows:
Here’s something else that happened today:
Commodities, Bonds and Cryptocurrencies:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1% to $76.82 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent crude was down 0.75% to $81.30 a barrel.
- Gold fell 2.43% to $2,334.80 per ounce.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 5 basis points to 4.482%.
- Bitcoin fell 2.63% to $67,306.