US markets end marginally higher on Thursday

09 Feb 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended marginally in green on Thursday following the strong upward move seen over the course of the previous session. Markets turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Thursday. The choppy trading on markets came as traders expressed some uncertainty about whether the markets can sustain their recent upward trend. The S&P 500 reached an intraday peak slightly above 5,000 in late-day trading but pulled back to close just below what could prove to be a key psychological level for the broad market index. On the sectoral front, reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day. Semiconductor stocks saw significant strength on the heels of Arm's strong results, however, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbing by 1.6 percent. On the economic data front, the Commerce Department released a report showing wholesale inventories in the U.S. rebounded in line with estimates in the month of December. 

The report said wholesale inventories climbed by 0.4 percent in December after falling by a revised 0.4 percent in November. The growth in wholesale inventories matched street expectations as well as the preliminary estimate provided late last month. The rebound in wholesale inventories came as inventories of durable goods increased by 0.6 percent, more than offsetting a 0.1 percent dip in inventories of non-durable goods. Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended February 3rd. The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 218,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 227,000. Street had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000 from the 224,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.97 points or 0.13 percent to 38,726.33, Nasdaq added 37.07 points or 0.24 percent to 15,793.72 and S&P 500 edged up 2.85 points or 0.06 percent to 4,997.91.


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