U.S. stock markets closed higher on Thursday after a choppy session. Market participants have shifted from overvalued technology sectors to cyclical sectors in order to reap the benefit of a strong U.S. economy. Third-quarter 2024 earnings results remained solid. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) surged 1.1% or 461.88 points to close at 43,870.35. At intraday high, the blue-chip index was up more than 600 points. Notably, 22 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory while 8 in negative zone.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 18,972.42, gaining 6.28 points due to mixed performance by technology behemoths. At intraday high, the tech-laden index was up nearly 115 points and at intraday low, the index was down more than 252 points.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% to finish at 5,948.17. 10 out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while one in negative zone. The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF), the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI), the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) were up 1.3%, 1.3%, 1.2%, 1%, 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 1.7% to 16.87. A total of 15.32 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 14.55 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 3.17-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.99-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
Snowflake Inc. SNOW came out with quarterly earnings of $0.20 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.15 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.25 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. The company posted quarterly revenues of $942.09 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.82%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $734.17 million.
Deere & Company DE reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings of $4.55 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of $3.90. The bottom line decreased 45% from the prior-year quarter. Net sales of equipment operations were $9.28 billion, down 32.8% year over year. Sales topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.15 billion.
BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. BJ came out with quarterly earnings of $1.18 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.91 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.98 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. The company posted quarterly revenues of $5.1 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.52%.
Consequently, stock prices of Snowflake, Deere and BJ's Wholesale Club jumped 32%, 8.1% and 8.3%, respectively. BJ's Wholesale Club carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Department of Labor reported that initial claims decreased by 6,000 to 213,000 for the week ended Nov 16, lower than the consensus estimate of 220,000. Previous week’s data was revised upward to 219,000 from 217,000 reported earlier.
Continuing claims (those who have already received government aids and reported a week behind) increased 34,000 to 1.908 million for the week ended Nov 9. This is the highest level for insured unemployment since Nov 13, 2021. The previous week's level was revised downward by 1,000 from 1.873 million to 1.872 million.
The Philadelphia Manufacturing Business index came in at -5.5 in November, in contrast to a reading of +10.3 in October.
The Conference Board reported that Leading Indicators for the U.S. economy fell 0.4% in October, in line with the consensus estimate. The metric for September was revised upward to a decline of 0.3% from a decline of 0.5% reported earlier.
The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales increased 3.4% in October to a seasonally adjusted numbers of 3.96 million units, beating the consensus estimate of 3.91 million units. The metric posted the first annual gain since mid-2021. The metric for September was 3.84 million units.
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