Stocks on Wall Street bounced back from a two-day slide Thursday, placing the S&P 500 on pace for its second straight weekly gain.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.4%, powered by broad gains. About 77% of the stocks in the benchmark index closed higher. Technology stocks and banks made some of the biggest gains, along with a wide range of retailers and other consumer-oriented companies. Only communication services stocks and real estate companies fell.
The modest rally came as the latest government data showed continued economic growth and investors reviewed another batch of mostly positive corporate earnings reports.
Online brokerage Robinhood made an underwhelming debut on the Nasdaq, closing at $34.82, or 8.4% below its offering price of $38, which was the low end of its expected range.
The company has drawn millions of new investors to Wall Street with commission-free trades, but has also attracted controversy. It and other online brokerages rattled Wall Street earlier this year when investors used the platforms to drive up prices to seemingly unreasonable levels for “meme” stocks like GameStop.
The S&P 500 gained 18.51 points to 4,419.15. It is now less than 0.1% below the all-time high it hit on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.60 points, or 0.4%, to 35,084.53, while the Nasdaq added 15.68 points, or 0.1%, to 14,778.26. The Dow and Nasdaq also hovered just below their record highs set on Monday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained relatively stable. It edged higher to 1.27% from 1.26% late Wednesday.
A government report helped ease some concerns on Wall Street about the pace of the economic recovery. The Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew at a solid 6.5% annual rate last quarter. The total size of the economy has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level. It also revised its figures for 2020, showing that the economy contracted by a slightly smaller amount than previously reported.
The latest GDP figure fell short of economists forecasts for 8.5% growth, but investors have largely brushed off the wide miss.
“That’s still an eyepopping number,” said Megan Horneman, director of portfolio strategy at Verdence Capital Advisors, on the latest GDP figure.
Analysts have been expecting the economic recovery to slow from its breakneck pace earlier this year, but to remain steady as businesses reopen and people return to many of the things they were doing before the pandemic.
“Eventually the growth rates will slow, but it's important to understand that just because the rate is slowing doesn't mean we're entering into a contraction,” Horneman said.
Investors also got encouraging news on the broader employment picture, which has tended to lag the rest of the recovery. Claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 24,000 to 400,000 last week, the Labor Department reported.
The upbeat economic data follows the Federal Reserve’s statement on Wednesday signaling that it will keep its support for the economy intact.
Yum Brands, which owns KFC and Taco Bell, rose 6.3% after strong customer demand helped it handily beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue forecasts. Ford rose 3.8% after the automaker reported a surprise second-quarter profit on sales of its pickup trucks and SUVs.
Facebook fell 4% and weighed down the S&P 500's communications sector after it warned of slower growth through the rest of the year.
Amazon skidded 6.2% in extended trading after the internet retail giant reported mixed results for the second quarter after the market closed.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
With a merger this big, creators, studios, and theaters all face uncertain futures. Here’s what experts are worried about and what good could come from it.
With disengagement rising and hybrid work shifting, 'Everybody Matters' author Bob Chapman explains why treating people well could define the future of work.
We sat down with Ali Furman, U.S. Consumer Markets Industry Leader at consulting firm PwC to ask what trends she garnered from the initial data this year.
