-
The rally in US stocks stalled on Thursday after the S&P 500 approached record highs.
-
Trump’s deregulation plans and a big AI investment announcement helped boost stock prices this week.
-
Investors are focused on fourth-quarter earnings and the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting.
The rally in US stocks stalled on Thursday, with trading mixed and the S&P 500 falling after approaching record highs in the first week of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Trump’s plans to launch a wave of deregulation have helped stimulate “animal spirits” on Wall Street, driving up stock prices.
A $500 billion investment announcement for AI infrastructure has also boosted technology stocks this week, but the Nasdaq 100 gave up some of those gains and fell about half a percentage point in Thursday’s trading session.
Investors digested initial jobless claims on Thursday, which rose slightly from the previous week’s reading to 223,000 from 217,000. That figure was slightly higher than economists’ estimates of 221,000.
But the most important thing for investors this week and in the coming weeks are the fourth quarter earnings results.
With 14% of S&P 500 companies reporting results so far, 78% are beating earnings estimates by an average of 6%, according to Fundstrat data.
The big earnings show will begin next week, when mega-cap tech companies including Apple, Meta Platforms and Tesla report results.
Investors are also preparing for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week. While markets expect the central bank to leave rates unchanged, comments from Fed officials could move markets if they signal any change in the path of interest rates relative to what markets are pricing in for this year. anus.
Here’s where the US indices stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:
Here’s what else is happening:
In commodities, bonds and cryptocurrencies:
-
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.05% to $75.48 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, rose 0.10% to $79.08 a barrel.
-
Gold fell 0.75% to $2,750.00 an ounce.
-
The 10-year Treasury yield jumped 5 basis points to 4.665%.
-
Bitcoin fell 1.07% to $102,556.
Read the original article on Business Insider