S&P 500 Briefly Above 5,500 For First Time As Nvidia Continues Market Dominance: Live Updates

Jobless claims are rising, with the short-term trend measure at its highest level in more than nine months.

Claims for unemployment benefits totaled 238,000 for the week ended June 15, bringing the four-week rolling average, which helps ease volatility in the numbers, to 232,750, the Labor Department reported Thursday . This is an increase of 5,500 from the previous week and the highest level since September 2, 2023.

The four-week rolling average of continuing claims also increased, standing at 1.806 million, the highest since February 10.

—Jeff Cox

Stocks opened higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting a new record high.

The broad index added 0.16%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 40 points, or 0.1%.

-Samantha Subin

Initial jobless claims were higher than expected last week, while housing and manufacturing data pointed to a slowdown, according to several economic reports released Thursday.

• Initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 238,000 for the week ended June 15, down 5,000 from the previous week but above the Dow Jones estimate of 235,000, according to the Labor Department. Continuing claims totaled 1.828 million, up 15,000.
• Housing starts in May totaled 1.277 million, down 5.5% and below the estimate of 1.38 million. Building permits totaled 1.386 million, down 3.8% from the previous month and below the 1.45 million forecast.
• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s manufacturing index for June came in at 1.3, down from 4.5 in May and below the 5.0 estimate. Price indices increased while employment improved but remained negative.

—Jeff Cox

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Accenture — The technology stock jumped 8.6%. While Accenture missed earnings and revenue expectations in its most recent quarter, according to FactSet, the information technology company recorded more than $900 million in new AI bookings generative.
• Trump Media & Technology Group — Shares fell nearly 12% after the company announced Tuesday that the registration of additional shares had been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The stock is down 36% so far this month.
• Nvidia — The chipmaker rose more than 3%, extending its gains from Tuesday when it overtook Microsoft to become the most valuable public company.

Read the full list here.

-Sarah Min

Darden Restaurants rose nearly 2% in Thursday’s premarket trading as investors analyzed a mixed earnings report.

The restaurant chain’s stock gained $2.65 per share on an adjusted basis, slightly above the consensus forecast of $2.61 from analysts surveyed by LSEG. But revenue came in at $2.96 billion for the three-month period, just below Wall Street’s forecast of $2.97 billion.

It’s also worth noting that Olive Garden’s same-store sales declined for a second straight quarter.

Darden shares have fallen about 7.5% so far this year.

—Alex Harring, Amélia Lucas

The Bank of England kept interest rates at 5.25%, even after UK inflation returned to the central bank’s 2% target. Seven policymakers voted in favor of keeping rates at their current level, and two favored a cut.

The announcement comes after Switzerland announced its second cut earlier today, while the Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged on June 12.

—Fred Imbert

The Swiss National Bank on Thursday lowered its key rates by 25 basis points, to 1.25%.

Previously, two-thirds of economists polled by Reuters had predicted this development. Switzerland already has the second lowest interest rate in the Group of Ten industrialized countries.

Analysts are now wondering whether the Swiss National Bank could cut rates again for a third time in 2024.

—Lisa Kailai Han

European stocks opened slightly higher on Thursday as investors eagerly awaited key rate decisions from central banks in the UK, Switzerland and Norway.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.1% shortly after the opening bell, with most sectors trading in positive territory.

—Sam Meredith

Wall Street is eyeing a round of economic data starting Thursday to close out the second half of the trading week.

U.S. initial jobless claims, housing starts and building permits are all scheduled to be released Thursday at 8:30 a.m., as is the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia’s manufacturing survey.

On Friday morning, PMI data from the services and manufacturing sectors will be presented, followed by existing home sales figures.

—Brian Evans

Stock futures were little changed Wednesday, as investors look to end the shortened trading week higher following the S&P 500’s latest record high.

Futures contracts linked to the S&P 500 rose 0.05%, while futures on the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 41 points, or 0.2%

—Brian Evans