- Stock indexes ended little changed on Thursday.
- Investors are awaiting the release of nonfarm payrolls data on Friday.
- GameStop shares soared on Thursday as “Roaring Kitty” was scheduled to appear live on YouTube.
Here are five important things investors should know before starting the trading day.
The S&P 500 was slightly lower on Thursday, closing at 5,352.96, down just 0.02%, after hitting an intraday high during the trading day. The Nasdaq Composite Index also fell 0.09% to 17,173.12, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.20% to close at 38,886.17. The major indexes were muted as investors await Friday’s May nonfarm payrolls report to gauge the state of the labor market. Follow live market updates:
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The focus is on employment. The Fed could cut rates sooner if the May nonfarm payrolls report, due on Friday, comes in weaker than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics to report a 190,000 job gain this month, up from a 175,000 gain in April. Average hourly earnings are also expected to rise 0.3%, which would mark a 3.9% increase from a year ago.
GameStop logo on April 3, 2024 in Sherwood Park, Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada.
Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images
GameStop soared more than 40% to record volumes on Thursday after meme stock leader “Roaring Kitty” scheduled his first YouTube Live stream in nearly four years. Investor Keith Gill is scheduled to stream at noon Friday, and traders expected it to be a bullish discussion of his holdings in the stock. Ahead of the scheduled stream, GameStop unexpectedly reported a 29% drop in first-quarter sales and a $32 million loss before the close on Friday. The video game retailer had originally planned to release earnings later this month.
A bike rack in front of the Waltons 5 & 10 store, part of the Walmart Museum, on Monday, November 21, 2022 in Bentonville, Arkansas, USA.
Terra Fondriest | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bentonville is booming. This Arkansas city is also home to Walmart and is growing fast. It has more cranes per capita than any other city in the country, according to Cushman & Wakefield/Sage Partners. And all that growth has given the town many of the amenities people expect in a big city. For example, the prices and cuisine at the town’s restaurants and bars are on par with places like Miami. As other costs, like rent and real estate prices, rise, Bentonville’s expansion is ultimately leading to concerns among longtime residents about rising home prices and evictions.
Rivian gets an NVIDIA makeover. The company said Thursday it has redesigned its all-electric R1 pickup and SUV models with NVIDIA chips to boost computing power. Rivian said the computing power will give the vehicles 10 times better performance than the previous system. In the new system, dual NVIDIA DRIVE Orin processors help power an “Autonomy Compute Module” that includes driver assistance features. A “premium version” of the system will also offer a wider range of features, such as hands-free driving “for a certain amount of time.” Still, drivers must keep their eyes on the road at all times, Rivian said.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans, Samantha Sabin, Jeff Cox, Yun Lee, Fred Imbert, Melissa Repko and Michael Weiland contributed to this report.
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