The major U.S. stock indexes moved in starkly opposite directions in early trading on Thursday, with the Dow moving sharply higher and the Nasdaq showing a significant pullback.
While the Nasdaq climbed well off its worst levels of the day, the tech-heavy index still closed down 60 points or 0.3 percent at 23,594.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 14 points or 0.2 percent to 6,901 and the Dow jumped 646 points or 1.3 percent to a new record closing high of 48,704.01.
The surge by the Dow partly reflected a sharp increase by shares of Visa (V), with the payment card services company spiking by 6.1 percent after Bank of American upgraded its rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral.
Strong gains by Nike (NKE), UnitedHealth (UNH) and American Express (AXP) also contributed to the jump by the blue chip index.
On the other hand, a steep drop by shares of Oracle (ORCL) weighed on the Nasdaq, as the software giant plunged by 10.8 percent.
The slump by Oracle came after the company reported fiscal second quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates but weaker than expected revenues.
Other AI-related stocks like Nvidia (NVDA) also moved to the downside, potentially reflecting renewed valuation concerns.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded by more than expected in the week ended December 6th.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 236,000, an increase of 44,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 192,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 220,000 from the 191,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Sector News
Gold stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index spiking by 4.3 percent to a new record closing high.
Substantial strength was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The index reached its best closing level in over seventeen years.
Banking and networking stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while oil producer stocks moved to the downside amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries extended the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 2.3 basis points to 4.141 percent.
Business News
Dow Jumps To New Record Closing High But Nasdaq Closes Modestly Lower
2025-12-11 21:12:29
