SAM - Stocks Try to End Drought
Stocks were steady on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrials attempted its first day of gains in four.
The 30-stock index came off its highs of the morning, but remained positive 21.9 points to 35,052.97
The S&P 500 lurched into the red 0.85 points to 4,513.19
The NASDAQ Composite held onto gains of 22.17 points, to 15,308.81.
Moderna shares rose 6% after the drug maker said it's developing a single dose vaccine that combines boosters against COVID and the flu.
Some Big Tech shares such as Apple, Facebook and Amazon were in the green amid the economic uncertainty, boosting the Nasdaq a bit.
Shares of athletic retailer Lululemon surged more than 12% and furniture retailer RH rose 8% on the back of better-than-expected earnings. Lululemon also offered a stronger-than-forecast outlook for the third quarter and the year.
Market gains were capped as investors remained cautious as they try to discern what's next to happen with the delta variant, the economic reopening and the Federal Reserve.
Several airlines on Thursday lowered their forecasts because of the resurgence in COVID. United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines each gave cautious comments; however their stocks remained in the green. American Airlines and Delta rose 5% and 4%, respectively.
Boston Beer tanked more than 6% after pulling its earnings guidance amid slowing growth in its hard seltzer brand. Meme-favorite
GameStop dropped 7% even after the video-game retailer posted better-than-expected results. The retailer did not provide an outlook or grander turnaround plans.
The Fed meets on Sep. 21-22 and investors are worried the central bank will indicate a move to slow down its monthly $120 billion in bond purchases, which have kept rates low and boosted the recovery from the pandemic.
Also helping sentiment was a better-than-expected weekly reading on jobless claims. Initial jobless claims came in 310,000, which was below expectations of 335,000 claims. This marked another fresh low for the pandemic era.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.32% from Wednesday's 1.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices ditched 14 cents to $69.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped 30 cents to $1,793.20 U.S. an ounce.