U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday after veering between gains and losses as investors gauged the latest round of economic data and the Federal Reserve's policy statement against tariff concerns.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11.31 points, or 0.03%, to 41,953.32, the S&P 500 lost 12.40 points, or 0.22%, to 5,662.89 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 59.16 points, or 0.33%, to 17,691.63.

Market Movers

Nvidia, IONQ, D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing - Nvidia closed 0.9% higher after the company kicked off its inaugural Quantum Day during the annual Nvidia GTC conference. Executives from IonQ, D-Wave Quantum, and Rigetti Computing joined Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on a panel to discuss the future of quantum computing. Without any significant announcements or clear timelines for deployment, shares of the quantum pure plays fell sharply. D-Wave dropped 18%, IonQ declined 9.3%, and Rigetti tumbled 9.2%.

Tesla - Tesla was down for most of Thursday’s session but pared some of those losses to close up 0.2%. Piper Sandler analysts trimmed their price target on the stock to $450 from $500, but maintained their Overweight rating. The Piper Sandler price cut followedan upgrade on Wednesday from Cantor Fitzgerald, which raised its recommendation on Tesla to Buy from Hold, citing “material catalysts” for the stock. Separately, Tesla isrecalling 46,096 Cybertrucks to fix a stainless-steel side panel.

Intel - Intel finished down 0.7% after slumping 6.9% on Wednesday, ending a five-session winning streak. The stock has risen sharply since the company said last week it would appoint former board memberLip-Bu Tan as its new CEO. Intel remains up 19% for the year.

Rivian - Rivian Automotive fell 4.2% to finish at $10.88. Analysts at Piper Sandler cut their rating on shares of the EV maker to Neutral from Overweight, and reduced their price target to $13 from $19. “It pains us, but at this point, we cannot justify recommending Rivian in 2025,” wrote analyst Alexander Potter. “We like Rivian’s strategy, and over the next several years, we’d rather own Rivian than any of the Detroit Three auto makers. However, growth will likely be difficult in 2025.”

PDD Holdings - U.S.-listed shares of PDD Holdings, the parent company of e-commerce platform Temu, closed up 4%. The Chinese retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue that rose 24% from a year earlier but missed analysts’ forecasts.

Other Chinese ADRs sank. China's central bank held rates steady today, which may have been a disappointment. NIO fell 8.9%; XPeng fell 7.3%; Bilibili and Tencent ADR fell 5%; iQiyi, Alibaba, JD.com, and Baidu fell 4%; Li Auto fell 3%.

Carvana - Carvana rose 5.3% to close at $185.42 after Piper Sandler raised its recommendation on the car dealer to Overweight from Neutral, and kept the price target at $225. Demand is relatively stable, regardless of the macro environment, the analysts said in a research note.

Jabil Circuit - Jabil ended the session up 3.1% after the contract manufacturer of electrical components posted fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings that beat analysts’ expectations and raised its fiscal-year earnings forecast.

Accenture - Accenture finished the session Thursday down 7.3% even after posting fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that narrowly topped Wall Street expectations. The consulting company also raised the low end of its fiscal-year earnings forecast. However, new bookings decreased 3% from the previous year to $20.9 billion in the quarter. Concerns about federal funding cuts weighed on the stock

Darden Restaurants - Darden Restaurants, the owner of Olive Garden and other chains, posted fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that rose from a year earlier. Adjusted earnings of $2.80 a share matched analysts’ estimates. Revenue in the period rose 6.2% to $3.16 billion but missed forecasts of $3.21 billion. Shares gained 5.8%.

Five Below - Five Below closed up 0.7%. The teen-centric discount retailer reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates and reported a same-store sales decline of 3%, narrower than analysts’ expectations for a drop of 3.3%. Five Below expects revenue in its current fiscal first quarter of $905 million to $925 million, above estimates for $900 million, according to FactSet.

ProAssurance - ProAssurance soared 48.1% to close at $23.02 after the specialty insurer reached an agreement to be acquired by Doctors Co. for $25 a share in cash. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Market News

Trump to Expand Critical Mineral Output Using Wartime Powers

President Donald Trump is invoking emergency powers to boost the ability of the US to produce critical minerals — and potentially coal — as part of a broad effort to ramp up the development of domestic natural resources and make the country less reliant on foreign imports.

An executive order signed by the president Thursday taps the Defense Production Act as part of an effort to provide financing, loans and other investment support to domestically process critical minerals and rare earth elements, according to a White House official. The US International Development Finance Corporation, working with the Department of Defense, will provide financing for new mineral production projects.

The order, which also encourages faster permitting for mining and processing projects and a directive for the Interior Department to prioritize mineral production on federal land, comes as a direct response to long-held concerns among the US and allies that China overwhelmingly controls the processing of some of the most important critical minerals.

Micron Forecasts Upbeat Quarterly Revenue on Strong AI Memory Chip Demand

Micron Technology forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, signaling strong demand for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI models.

The company said it expects revenue of $8.80 billion, plus or minus $200 million for the third quarter, compared with an estimate of $8.5 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Revenue for the second quarter ending February 27 was $8.05 billion, beating an average estimate of $7.89 billion. Excluding items, earnings per share was $1.56, above an estimate of $1.42 per share.