On January 2, 2024, traders worked on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the first trading day of 2024.
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Stock index futures hovered near flat lines Thursday night after the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at new highs, buoyed by enthusiasm for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 Index It fell slightly by 0.12%. Dow Jones Futures hovering near the flat line while Nasdaq 100 Futures down 0.21%.
shipping giant fedex The company’s shares fell 10% in after-hours trading after the company slashed its full-year profit forecast and lowered its revenue guidance. Nike Shares soared more than 9% after CEO John Donahoe was announced will resign October 13th.
Stocks surged during regular trading on Thursday, with the S&P 500 rising 1.7% to close above 5,700 points for the first time. The 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up more than 500 points, closing above 42,000 points for the first time. Both indexes also hit record highs on the day. this Nasdaq Index up 2.5%.
Unemployment data and a half-percentage point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday seemed to boost investor sentiment. Initial jobless claims for the week of September 14 were 219,000, lower than expected and down from the previous week.
“The first economic data point since the ‘big’ rate cut should please the Fed,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at Morgan Stanley E-Trade. “The lower-than-expected “The jobless claims don’t immediately raise concerns about the labor market slowing too much.”
Wednesday’s decision by the Fed marks the first rate cut since 2020.
All three major stock indexes posted weekly gains, with the S&P 500 index rising nearly 1.6% as of Thursday’s close. The Dow gained 1.5% for the week, while the Nasdaq gained 1.9%, outperforming the broader market.
