Stocks started slightly higher on Thursday, but by lunchtime two of the three indexes were down. This was due to the stock price of major semiconductor maker NVIDIA (NVDA) swung down.
Let’s start with today’s economic news. Ministry of Labor Initial claims for unemployment insurance last week fell by 5,000 to 238,000, beating economists’ expectations.
Aside from this, Census Bureau Housing starts fell 5.5% to 1.277 million in May, the lowest level since June 2020. Building permits, a gauge of future construction, also fell 3.8% to 1.386 million, the lowest level in nearly four years.
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“Second-quarter economic data suggests economic activity is slowing again, Slumping retail salesHousing Starts and Building Permits” Bill Adams“Weak economic activity and labor market data are fueling expectations that the Fed will start cutting interest rates,” said John McCain, chief economist at Comerica Bank. Interest level Within a few months, he added.
Kroger falls despite beating profit estimates
check out Revenue Calendar, Kroger (KR) shares fell 3.3% after the company’s CEO said he expects customers to continue “navigating economic uncertainty” for the foreseeable future, even as the company beat expectations for first-quarter sales and profits.
Managing Partner Alon Bollig ComcapThe boutique investment bank, which works with several consumer companies, said the strong performance was due in large part to Kroger’s “significant investments in retail media to drive personalized advertising at the point of decision” and its focus on optimizing its supply chain.
“While the impact of these efforts can be difficult to predict from quarter to quarter, we are optimistic that there will be additional positive surprises over the next year or two,” Boerig added.
Darden raises dividend again
Elsewhere, Darden Restaurant Olive Garden’s parent company, DRI, rose 1.5% after it reported fourth-quarter profit that beat expectations, even though sales fell slightly short of estimates. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 6.9%, its fourth consecutive annual increase.
Nvidia pulls out
Meanwhile, Nvidia rose more than 3% in trading on Thursday after the chipmaker’s partner Dell Technologies (Dell, -0.4%) and Super Microcomputer (SMCI, -0.3%) received a server order for Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) startup xAI. But NVDA shares closed down 3.5%.
Nvidia briefly surpassed Microsoft (MSFT, -0.1%) announced earlier this week that it would become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. However, today’s decline puts MSFT back in the top spot with a market cap of $3.31 trillion, compared to NVDA’s $3.22 trillion.
Nvidia’s weakness weighed on two of the three major indexes, Nasdaq Composite Index The closing price was down 0.8% to 17,721. S&P 500 It fell 0.3% to 5,473. Dow Jones Industrial Average It ended up 0.8% at 39,134. Salesforce (CRM, +4.3%).
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