Stocks end with mixed results amid earnings
Stocks gave back some of their recent gains Thursday as a choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended with a mixed finish for the major indexes.
The price of U.S. crude oil fell to less than $90 per barrel for the first time since early February, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Gains in technology stocks, retailers and elsewhere helped keep the losses in energy, health care and other sectors in check.
The muted trading came as investors continued to review the latest updates on the economy and corporate earnings ahead of the government's monthly snapshot of the nation's job market today.
The S&P 500 slipped 3.23 points to 4,151.94, and the Dow Jones dropped 85.68 points to 32,726.82. Nasdaq rose 52.42 points to 12,720.58. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks gave up 2.47 points, or 0.1%, to close at 1,906.46.
All of the major indexes except for the Dow are on pace for weekly gains after rallying Wednesday.
The price of U.S crude oil fell 2.3% to settle at $88.54 per barrel Thursday, weighing on energy company stocks. Exxon Mobil slid 4.2% and Occidental Petroleum fell 5.8%. Health care stocks also lost ground. Eli Lilly dropped 2.6%.
Advanced Micro Devices climbed 5.9%, Amazon gained 2.2%, Lennar rose 3.4% and Deere gained 1.7%.
Companies have been raising prices on everything from food to clothing to help offset the impact of inflation on supply chains, but the pressure has become too much for many consumers. A surge in gasoline prices worsened inflation and prompted spending cutbacks.
The Federal Reserve has been aggressively raising interest rates to try and slow the economy and fight inflation, along with other central banks. The Bank of England on Thursday initiated its biggest rate hike in more than a quarter century.
Recent economic data from retail sales and employment reports has shown that the economy already is slowing down.
“The cure for high inflation is sometimes high inflation,” Nixon said. “The narrative that we might have been at or past peak inflation is being validated by some of the data coming out.”
The surge in consumer demand and lack of supplies for many goods initially drove inflation. The resulting higher prices have now prompted consumers to ease off of spending. But, the Fed's aggressive interest rate policy has investors concerned that the central bank could hit the brakes on the economy too hard and veer it into a recession.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.66% from 2.74% late Wednesday.
New data from the Labor Department on Thursday showed the number of Americans applying for jobless benefits last week rose in line with expectations, as the number of unemployed continues to rise modestly.
The latest data follows updates earlier this week showing that job openings eased, but still remain at record highs. The Labor Department's July jobs report today is expected to show some signs of tightening.