The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Thursday as market participants were encouraged by a new pandemic-era low weekly jobless claims report, which in turn boosted already optimistic economic reopening outlooks. The Nasdaq, however, closed slightly below a flatline as investors pulled out of technology stocks in favor of cyclical sectors like Industrials (NYSE: XLI) and Financials (NYSE: XLF).
Meme stocks, which have had a revival this week, jumped higher on Thursday on speculative retail investing. Shares of GameStop (NYSE: GME) rose over 4.8%, while AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) had popped over 35% after erasing gains earlier in the session on volatile trading.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.11% or +4.69 points to 4,200.68
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.41% or +139.42 points to 34,462.47
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.01% or -1.72 points to 13,736.28
Senate Republicans rise $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to Biden's $1.7 trillion plan:
Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled their $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to President Joe Biden's $1.7 trillion proposal. The plan includes: $506 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects, including $4 billion for electric vehicles; $98 billion for public transit; $72 billion for water systems; $65 billion for broadband; $56 billion for airports; $46 billion for passenger and freight rail systems; $22 billion for ports and waterways; $22 billion for water storage; $21 billion for safety efforts; and $20 billion for infrastructure financing.
Expectedly, Republicans again rejected Biden's plans to raise corporate taxes, instead calling for funding to come from funds already allocated by Congress or with transportation fees/taxes.
Here's how major indices stand in the afternoon:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.09% or +4.03 points to 4,200.11
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.28% or +96.81 points to 34,419.86
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.02% or +3.50 points to 13,742.01
Pending home sales unexpectedly fell in April:
Pending home sales unexpectedly dropped month-on-month in April, declining the most since February as tight inventory levels begin to impact home-buying activity.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Thursday that pending home sales fell by 4.4% in April over March, down the prior month's 1.7% increase. Still, pending home sales were up 53.5% over last year on an unadjusted basis.
The drop was "in part due to record-low inventory of homes for sale in the first quarter of 2021," the NAR said in a statement, which impacted overall market affordability as prices increased.
Here's how major averages started trading after opening bell:
S&P 500 Index: +0.30% or +12.44 points to 4,208.43
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.64% or +218.39 points to 34,541.44
Nasdaq Composite Index: -0.08% or -10.31 points to 13,727.69
Durable goods orders unexpectedly declined in April:
Durable goods orders unexpectedly fell by 1.3% in April, according to the Commerce Department's preliminary monthly report, following an upwardly revised rise of 1.3% in March.
Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft rose by 2.3%, while non-defense capital goods shipments excluding aircraft increased by 0.9%.
Jobless claims set new pandemic-era low:
Initial unemployment claims declined for a fourth straight week to 406,000 for the week ended May 22, the Labor Department reported, coming in below the 425,000 expected and the previous week's unrevised total of 444,000. This new report set a new pandemic-era low for the unemployment market as the U.S. works to recover.
Continuing jobless claims also showed lower-than-expected results at 3.642 million for the week ended May 8, compared to the 3.680 million expected by Bloomberg consensus.