US stock indices falter in mixed trading on Thursday.
The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in afternoon trading after a choppy morning. He's coming off four straight losses and another drop would send him to his longest losing streak since late October, when his great record run began.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 1:10 p.m. Eastern Time, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.2%.
Elevance Health climbed 4.1% after the insurer raised its full-year profit forecast. Homebuilder DR Horton rose 3.5% after reporting higher profits and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
They helped offset a 7.7% decline for Equifax, which reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the latest quarter. High interest rates are putting pressure on its mortgage credit investigation activities.
Stocks overall have struggled recently as bond market yields rise. They are increasing the pressure because investors have given up hope that the Federal Reserve will make many interest rate cuts this year.
Yields climbed a bit more after other reports on Thursday showed the U.S. economy remained stronger than expected.
Report says fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. It's the latest sign that the job market remains remarkably strong despite high interest rates.
Another report said manufacturing growth in the Mid-Atlantic region accelerated sharply, while economists had expected a contraction.
A third report said that sales of previously occupied American homes did not fall last month as economists predicted.
Similar data, along with a series of reports showing that inflation has remained higher than expected this year, prompted senior Fed officials to say recently that they might hold interest rates in place. high for a while.
That's a disappointment after the Fed signaled earlier that three interest rate cuts could be possible this year.
But Fed officials insisted they wanted to ensure inflation was heading toward their 2% target before lowering the Fed's main interest rate from its all-time high since 2001. Lower rates would stimulate the economy and financial markets, but they could also help give more weight to the economy and financial markets. inflation of fuel to reaccelerate.
Traders now expect only one or two rate cuts this year, according to CME Group data, down from expectations for six or more at the beginning of the year.
On the bond market, the yield on 10-year Treasury bills rose from 4.59% to 4.65% on Wednesday evening. The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations of Fed action, rose to 4.98% from 4.94%.
The hoped-for benefit on Wall Street of a strong economy that keeps interest rates high is that it could also lead to strong profit growth. Companies will need to demonstrate such strength in order to justify the rise in stock prices since the fall, setting records along the way.
Genuine Parts jumped 12.2%, the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the automotive and industrial parts distributor reported higher profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, despite a weak environment. sales growth. It also raised its profit forecast range for the full year.
Comerica rose 3% after analysts said the bank gave a better-than-expected forecast for 2024 earnings development.
Alaska Air, the carrier that suffered a mid-flight eruption from a door jam on a Boeing plane in January, suffered a $162 million loss in its latest quarter after grounding its entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max jets, but it forecasts better-than-expected profits for the current quarter. Its stock increased by 5.2%
Las Vegas Sands fell 9.1% even though its results were better than expected. Analysts said investors might be concerned about the competition the company faces in Macau.
Digital marketing company Ibotta, which counts Walmart among its backers, rose 18.5% after its market debut.
On foreign stock markets, indices moved only modestly in much of Europe after rising in Asia. South Korea's Kospi jumped 2% to help dominate the region.
AP Business writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
