Brendan McDermid/Reuters
- US stocks traded mixed on Thursday following a large selloff in the previous session.
- The Dow opened lower despite Walgreens shares up after beating earnings expectations.
- The 10-year Treasury yield touched 1.75% for the first time since March 2021.
US stocks traded mixed Thursday, after stocks tumbled in the previous session as the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes signaled the central bank will draw down more support for the economy than investors had anticipated this year.
The Dow dipped despite Walgreens Boots Alliance shares rising after the drug store company’s quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, bolstered by customers coming in for COVID vaccines and testing.
Tech-concentrated Nasdaq Composite opened higher after sliding more than 3% on Wednesday as the Fed minutes suggested policy makers may reduce its balance sheet rather than just pulling back on its emergency asset buying. The 10-year Treasury yield on Thursday touched 1.75% for the first time since March 2021.
Here’s where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 4,705.57, up 0.11%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 36,387.27, down 0.05% (19.84 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 15,137.99 (up 0.25%)
Stocks had been lower ahead of the bell before weekly jobless claims showed a rise of 7,000 claims to 207,000. That was worse than expectations of 195,000.
“The fundamentals haven’t changed; the labor market remains extremely tight, and firms won’t let staff go unless they have no other choice,” said Pantheon Macroeconomics in a note. “It’s possible that an extended Omicron wave would change that, but the initial impact likely is to make firms even more keen to keep people, as absenteeism due to Covid rockets.”
Around the markets, Mark Mobius says the tech sell-off is a good time to load up on FAANG stocks.
The growth of cryptocurrency markets in 2021 also came with an 80% rise in crypto crimes, new analysis shows.
Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude added on 1.9%, at $79.24 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, gained 1.7% to trade at $82.15.
Gold dropped 1.9% to $1,790.30 per ounce. The 10-year yield was up 2 basis points to 1.729%.
Bitcoin lost 1.5% to $43,014.11.
