Wall Street traded uncertainly again on Thursday, with the market mostly declining in early trade due to more negative coronavirus and economic news, only to reverse course in the afternoon following news of the easing of some banking regulations.
Investors continue to remain cautious as the coronavirus continues to spike throughout the United States, with the country reaching a new record total of daily new infections in week. Unemployment also remains staggeringly high, with the Labor Department's weekly new jobless claims data for the week ended June 20 totaling a more than expected 1.48 million. Continuing jobless claims for the week ended June 13 however fell below estimates to 19.522 million from the previous week's 20.289 million.
Meanwhile, the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission stated on Thursday that it would ease some investment regulations for banks, including the Volcker Rule, a part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act that prevents banks from acting like hedge funds. This sent financials and big banks soaring in late-day trading.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
In Major Stock News, big banks--Bank of America
In Stock Sector News, most industries rebounded during Thursday's session, with only Utilities lagging behind at -1.22%. The rest of the performance gains were as follows: Financials +2.71%, Energy +1.92%, Information Technology +1.30%, Materials +1.30%, Industrials +1.11%, Real Estate +1.09%, Health Care +1.03%, Consumer Staples +0.74%, Communication Services +0.57% and Consumer Discretionary +0.31%.
In Commodity and Currency News, crude oil futures made some gains back on Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate
For Friday, market participants will continue to follow coronavirus news. Data for personal income and consumer sentiment are also scheduled to be released on Friday.