WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving higher over the two previous sessions, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closed narrowly mixed.
While the Nasdaq rose 51.044 points or 0.2 percent to 23,505.14 and the S&P 500 inched up 7.40 points or 0.1 percent to 6,857.12, the narrower Dow edged down 31.96 points or 0.1 percent to 47,850.94.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to assess the near-term outlook for the markets following the volatility seen earlier in the week.
Stocks pulled back on Monday after last week's week rally only to regain ground during relatively choppy trading on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Optimism about another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week helped the major averages more than offset Monday's decline.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a three-year low in the week ended November 29th.
The report said initial jobless claims slid to 191,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week's revised level of 218,000.
Economist had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 216,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected decline, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 189,000 in the week ended September 24, 2022.
While the data partly offset recent optimism about the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next week, the central bank is still widely expected to lower rates by another quarter point.
'Initial claims can be subject to big swings at this time of the year, so we won't read much into one week's number,' Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
She added, 'Still, initial claims have remained in a range consistent with a relatively low pace of job losses despite recent layoff announcements.'
Sector News
While most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, computer hardware stocks saw a substantial rebound, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index surging by 3.0 percent after slumping by 1.7 percent on Wednesday.
Significant strength was also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.
On the other hand, housing stocks showed a notable move to the downside, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.6 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground after moving higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 5.1 basis points to 4.108 percent.
Looking Ahead
Trading on Friday may be impacted by reaction to closely watched readings on consumer price inflation in September, although the data could be seen as too backward looking to impact next week's Fed decision.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News