Today in the US Stock Market News: Wall Street had a positive start on Thursday, May 9, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite all registering gains of around half a percent. The buying was focused on realty, energy, and consumer discretionary sectors, although some selling in select tech stocks dampened the overall performance. The Dow Jones was aiming for its seventh consecutive higher closing, surpassing the 39,000 mark for the first time in five weeks on the previous day.
By midday, the Dow Jones, which includes companies like Amazon, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Nike, Boeing, and Visa, had gained 616.3 points for the week. Investors were cautiously optimistic about potential reductions in benchmark interest rates in 2024 due to weaker-than-expected job market data in the US.
At 1:14 pm EST (10:44 pm in India), the Dow Jones was up by 224.5 points at 39,280.9, the S&P 500 was up by 20.8 points at 5,208.5, and the Nasdaq Composite, which has a higher concentration of tech stocks, was at 16,357.5, up by 54.7 points. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies also saw a 0.6% gain.
Investors were eagerly awaiting speeches from Fed official Mary C Daly and a natural gas update from the US EIA for market cues. The Bank of England’s rate-deciding panel voted 7:2 to maintain key interest rates at 5.25%, with optimism expressed by Governor Andrew Bailey about the economy’s trajectory.
Most Dow constituents were in the green for the day, except for Visa, McDonald’s, Cisco, IBM, and Salesforce, which saw minor declines. The top gainers on the Dow Jones included Caterpillar Inc, Home Depot Inc, Amgen Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Chevron Corp, Dow Inc, Apple Inc, Travelers Companies Inc, and American Express Co.
Dow Jones top gainers
| Stock | Trading Symbol | Price ($) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caterpillar Inc | 351.87 | 2.14 | |
| Home Depot Inc | 345.7 | 2.03 | |
| Amgen Inc | 313.23 | 1.93 | |
| Amazon.com Inc | 190.59 | 1.38 | |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc | 452.96 | 1.34 | |
| Chevron Corp | 164.41 | 1.15 | |
| Dow Inc | 59.3 | 1.13 | |
| Apple Inc | 184.4 | 0.91 | |
| Travelers Companies Inc | 218.97 | 0.75 | |
| American Express Co | 237.93 | 0.72 |
Recent days in the US stock market have seen significant gains, fueled by expectations of rate cuts by the Fed in the near future. This sentiment is supported by disappointing job market data in the US.
In global markets, European shares continued to rise, despite a weak start from Asian markets. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up by 0.2% at 516.8. Asian stocks had mixed movements, with Chinese benchmarks seeing gains after positive trade data was reported.
In India, the Nifty50 and Sensex dropped by about 1.5% due to widespread selling across sectors, except for auto stocks.
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