Stocks Regain Upward Momentum After Weekly Jobless Claims Report

Barry Adams
08 Aug, 2024
New York City

Stock market indexes advanced in Thursday's trading following the less-than-expected increase in jobless claims, soothing fears of weakening labor market conditions. 

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1% after recession fears eased following the weaker-than-expected increase in jobless claims.

The weekly jobless claims have declined considerably from the pandemic-high but have been creeping up in the last seven months after reaching a low of 194,000 in the second week of January. 

U.S. Initial jobless claims increased by 17,000 to 233,000 in the week ending on August 3, the Department of Labor reported in its weekly update on Thursday. 

Initial claims in the previous week were revised higher to 250,000. 

Continuing claims, which lag by one week, increased by 6,000 to 1,87 million, the highest since January 2021. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index gained 1.1% to 5,255.50, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.1% to 16,373.40, and the Russell 2000 index declined 1.4% to 2,035.11. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 3.97%, 10-year Treasury notes increased to 3.93%, and 30-year Treasury bonds advanced to 4.24%.

WTI crude oil decreased $0.10 to $75.12 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged down 5 cents to $2.06 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $29.25 to $2,413.66 an ounce, and silver increased by $0.38 to $27.04. 

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 103.04.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Warner Bros. Discovery dropped 10% to $6.93 after the media company reported disappointing second-quarter results, and the company took a one-time write-down of $9.1 billion. 

Bumble Inc. declined 40.5% to $4.79 after the online dating platform reported weaker-than-expected revenue in the second quarter.

Duolingo soared 7.2% to $173.0 after the online language learning app developer reported better-than-expected quarterly results. 

Eli Lilly increased 12.1% to $865.0 after the pharmaceutical company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. 

The company also raised its full-year outlook due to the strong demand for its obesity drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro.