S&P 500 approaches record, Dow, Nasdaq quits higher after durable goods increase, unemployment claims stable
Commerce Street Holdings CEO Dory Wiley is making his best choices to beat the rate hike.
Despite several signs of sustained inflation. US stocks ended strong after encouraging reports of durable goods and demands for unemployment and declining omicron fears.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 196.67 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to record highs and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.8%. Shares rose more than 1.6% for the week.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me: DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGE | 35950.56 | +1[ads1]96.67 | +0.55% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4725.79 | +29.23 | +0.62% |
| I: COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15653.373957 | +131.48 | +0.85% |
The bond market had a shortened trade and closed at 14.00 ET.
US ECONOMIC GROWTH REVISED UP TO 2.3% IN THIRD QUARTER, BUT STILL MADE IN PREVIOUS MONTHS
Oil rose 1.4% during Thursday’s trading, trading at $ 73 a barrel level. Earlier in the day, ExxonMobil battled a refinery fire at the Baytown Texas facility.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USE | UNITED STATES OIL FUND LP | 53.13 | +0.65 | +1.24% |
| XOM | EXXON MOBIL CORP. | 61.02 | +0.03 | +0.05% |
In economic data: Durable goods, sales of goods with large tickets increased by 2.5% after rising only 0.1% last month. The data backs up the latest Consumer Confidence Index, which showed an increase in spending plans over the next six months.
Personal income and consumption also increased with consumption up 0.6% and income up 0.4%.
In terms of inflation, core spending on personal consumption, which removes volatile food and energy prices, is also expected to jump by 0.5% month-on-month in November. The year-on-year change in the core PCE, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, rose 4.7%, the highest reading in almost 33 years.
Unemployment claims remained stable at 205,000, little changed from last week’s total of 206,000. Continued claims, which track the total number of unemployed workers collecting benefits, reached 1.859 million and are still hovering near a pandemic low.
COVID-19 PILL: WHAT TO KNOW
In shares, Merck received approval from the Food and Drug Administration on its COVID-19 pill after Pfizers were approved on Wednesday. In addition, Novavax fell by more than 3% despite news that their COVID regimen “demonstrated cross-reactive immune responses to Omicron.”
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRK | MERCK & CO. INC. | 75.75 | -0.41 | -0.53% |
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 58.66 | -0.87 | -1.46% |
| NVAX | NOVAVAX INC. | 177.25 | -6.05 | -3,30% |
Shares from electric car manufacturers were also in focus on Thursday, with truck manufacturer Nikola rising more than 17% after its first sales order, and shares in Tesla rising 5% as CEO Elon Musk continues to exercise his stock options.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NKLA | NIKOLA CORP. | 11.09 | +1.69 | +17.98% |
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 1,067.00 | +58.13 | +5.76% |
The 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.492% at the end of Thursday’s trading, the highest level since December 8, after peaking at 1.5% for the first time since December 13.
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Investors continue to look at Apple. Reaching its $ 3 trillion market value seems to be pushed to 2022. Microsoft is the only other company that is close to this status.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 176.28 | +0.64 | +0.36% |
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 334.69 | +1.49 | +0.45% |
There will be no trading in stocks or US government bonds on Christmas Eve Friday. Many world markets will be closed on Friday for Christmas.
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Ken Martin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
