Wall Street claws back some of Wednesday’s big losses
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street on Thursday is clawing back some of its sharp loss from the prior day, which was its first major step backward since a rally began in late October.
The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher in afternoon trading, sitting less than 2% below its record set nearly two years ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 94 points, or 0.3%, a day after falling for the first time following five straight record-setting days. The Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher, as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, and like the other indexes was up more earlier in the day.
Micron Technology climbed 7.2% for one of the market's biggest gains after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected and saying it sees business conditions improving throughout its fiscal year.
CarMax rose 4.9% after it beat profit expectations despite what it called "persistent widespread pressures in the used car industry." And cruise operator Carnival steamed 7.7% higher after reporting better quarterly results than expected.
In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed following a suite of reports on the economy. Mostly falling yields have been one of the main reasons the stock market has charged so high the last two months. They relax the pressure on the financial system, encourage borrowing and boost prices for investments.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 3.88% from 3.86% late Wednesday after dipping earlier in the morning. In October, it had been above 5% and weighing heavily on markets.
Yields have been dropping on hopes that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to not only halt its hikes to interest rates but to begin cutting them sharply next year. The Fed has hiked its main rate to the highest level in more than two decades, but officials released projections last week showing they see some cuts to rates coming in 2024.
Reports on Thursday painted a mixed picture of whether the Fed can indeed pull off the long-odds tightrope walk that Wall Street is hoping for: a slowdown in the economy powerful enough to conquer high inflation but not so strong that it causes a recession.
One report showed that slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the number was still below expectations and low relative to history. The hope at the Fed and on Wall Street is that the job market can cool by just the right amount so that it doesn't cause mass layoffs but also doesn't add upward pressure on inflation.