US markets end choppy trading session mostly in green on Thursday

30 Mar 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended choppy trading session mostly in green on Thursday as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of a Commerce Department report on personal income and spending on Friday that includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. There are expectations that the annual rate of consumer price growth to inch up to 2.5 percent in February from 2.4 percent in January, while the annual rate of core consumer price growth is expected to come in unchanged at 2.8 percent. Markets were closed on Friday for Good Friday. Traders largely shrugged off a slew of U.S. economic data. The Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the week ended March 23rd. The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 210,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 212,000. Street had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 210,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly grew by more than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2023. Revised data showed real gross domestic product surged by 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previously reported 3.2 percent jump. Street had expected the pace of GDP growth to be unrevised. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report showing a notable rebound by pending home sales in the month of February. NAR said its pending home sales index shot up by 1.6 percent to 75.6 in February after plunging by 4.7 percent to a revised reading of 74.4 in January. Street had expected pending home sales to jump by 1.5 percent compared to the 4.9 percent nosedive originally reported for the previous month. Separately, the University of Michigan released revised data showing an unexpected improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of March. The report said the consumer sentiment index for March was upwardly revised to 79.4 from the preliminary reading of 76.5.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.29 points or 0.12 percent to 39,807.37 and S&P 500 was up by 5.86 points or 0.11 percent to 5,254.35, while Nasdaq was down by 20.06 points or 0.12 percent to 16,379.46.

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