- U.S. stocks are expected to hit new records on Thursday.
- Nvidia’s stock price has been on the rise since it recently claimed the title of the world’s most valuable company.
- Jobless claims were little changed last week, with 238,000 people filing for unemployment benefits.
U.S. stock averages rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on track to hit new records.
As traders return from the Independence Day holiday, shares in Nvidia continue to rise after the company claimed responsibility earlier this week for overtaking Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company.
Investors are also evaluating the latest jobless claims data, which showed a slight decline in claims last week but near a 10-month high as 238,000 people applied for unemployment benefits. The data points to some easing in the labor market, which the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell have said is necessary for interest rate cuts this year.
Below are U.S. stock indexes as of the start of trading at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, new housing starts fell 5.5% last month to the lowest level in four years, highlighting the continuing mismatch between supply and demand in the U.S. housing market.
In his mid-term outlook, Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok said the U.S. economy is in an “uneasy equilibrium” with competing forces at work.
“Meanwhile, the delayed effects of the Fed’s rate hikes continue to restrain growth, with higher borrowing costs hurting over-indebted consumers, businesses and banks alike,” he wrote.
“Meanwhile, the Fed’s ‘pivot change’ in December 2023 triggered easing of financial conditions, with bond issuance surging, M&A activity picking up, risk assets rising, and bond spreads narrowing significantly. These accommodative conditions at least partially neutralized the effects of the Fed’s rate hikes and paved the way for a reacceleration of both economic growth and inflation.”
Slok said easing financial conditions should continue to offset the effects of the Fed’s tightening for at least the next three quarters.
Here’s something else that happened today:
Commodities, Bonds and Cryptocurrencies:
- Crude oil futures rose. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.76% to $82.19 a barrel. The international benchmark Brent crude rose 0.9% to $85.84 a barrel.
- Gold rose 0.25% to $2,353.50 an ounce.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 7 basis points to 4.292%.
- Bitcoin rose to $65,218.
