Stock market news live updates: Stocks rally despite another grim jobless claims report
Stocks rose Thursday as investors continued to digest a slew of dour corporate earnings results and economic data that illustrate the full extent of the coronavirus on the U.S. economy.
Each of the three major indices jumped more than 1.5% during intraday trading. The Nasdaq jumped to more than 8,972.6, its closing level at the end of 2019 – turning the index positive for the year to date.
[Click here to read what’s moving markets heading into Friday, May 8]
The U.S. Labor Department’s weekly jobless claims report showed another 3.169 million individuals filed new unemployment claims for the week ended May 2. Meanwhile, a record 22.647 million continuing jobless claims were filed for the prior week ended April 25. This brought total new jobless claims recorded since the week ended March 20 to more than 33 million.
New reports have continued to shatter records when it comes to measuring the impact of the coronavirus on the domestic economy, and especially the labor market. U.S. employers cut a record more than 20 million private payrolls in April, ADP reported Wednesday.
A bevy of recent quarterly results further underscored the divide between companies seeing some benefits from consumer behavior changes amid the pandemic, and those struggling to weather these disruptions.
As with peer “stay-at-home” related services like Netflix (NFLX), connected fitness company Peloton (PTON) grew business more than expected in its latest reported quarter. Quarterly revenue that jumped 66%, and quarterly paid digital subscribers grew by nearly the same margin, as the coronavirus forced people across the country to work – and exercise – almost exclusively from home.
Others conceded that any virus-related boost would eventually fade. Etsy (ETSY), an e-commerce platform that lists homemade products including cloth face shields, reported quarterly gross merchandise sales (GMS) that jumped 32% over last year and forecasted an as much doubling of GMS for the current quarter, but noted it expects “that the recent surge in demand is likely to ease.”
Meanwhile, ride-hailing company Lyft (LYFT) posted better than feared results for the three months through March and narrowed its quarterly adjusted loss before interest, taxes and other costs by 61% over last year, though adjusted sales growth slowed considerably. Earlier, General Motors (GM) cited a $1.4 billion negative coronavirus-related impact to earnings before taxes in the first three months of the year.
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4:04 p.m. ET: Stocks rally, Nasdaq turns positive for the year
Here were the main moves in markets as of 4:04 p.m. ET:
S&P 500 (^GSPC): +32.77 (+1.15%) to 2,881.19
Dow (^DJI): +211.25 (+0.89%) to 23,875.89
Nasdaq (^IXIC): +125.27 (+1.41%) to 8,979.66
Crude (CL=F): -$0.78 (-3.25%) to $23.21 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$35.60 (+2.11%) to $1,724.10 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -8 bps to yield 0.6310%
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2:42 p.m. ET: Crude oil gives up earlier gains, settles lower
June futures for West Texas intermediate crude (CL=F) reversed earlier gains to settle lower by 1.8% to $23.55 per barrel on Thursday, as concerns over a supply glut continued to anchor the commodity prices. Earlier, futures had risen to $26.74 per barrel, propelled by new data suggesting a rebound in China’s exports.
July futures for Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell about 1% to settle at $29.46 per barrel.
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1:04 p.m. ET: Stocks extend gains, Dow rises 370+ points
Here were the main moves in markets, as of 1:05 p.m. ET:
S&P 500 (^GSPC): +49.28 points (+1.73%) to 2,897.7
Dow (^DJI): +372.49 points (+1.57%) to 24,037.13
Nasdaq (^IXIC): +151.27 points (+1.71%) to 9,005.91
Crude (CL=F): +$1.07 (+4.46%) to $25.06 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$27.00 (+1.60%) to $1,715.50 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -7.8 bps to yield 0.635%
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9:45 a.m. ET: Nasdaq turns positive for year to date
The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose above its 2019 closing level of 8,972.6, bringing the index into positive territory for the year to date during intraday trading.
Each of the S&P 500 and Dow, however, were still negative for the year to date by 10.7% and 16%, respectively, through Thursday morning.
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9:31 a.m. ET: Stocks open higher
Here were the main moves in markets, as of 9:31 a.m. ET:
S&P 500 (^GSPC): +37.89 points (+1.33%) to 2,886.31
Dow (^DJI): +245.46 points (+1.04%) to 23,910.10
Nasdaq (^IXIC): +111.21 points (+1.24%) to 8,966.42
Crude (CL=F): +$2.47 (+10.3%) to $26.46 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$10.20 (+0.60%) to $1,698.70 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -1.7 bps to yield 0.698%
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9:05 a.m. ET: ‘Frightening’ jobless data even worse than you think
Another Thursday, another 7-figure print in unemployment data. While jobless claims have slowed since the initial surge, it sets a foreboding tone ahead of Friday’s all-important nonfarm payrolls report, especially after Wednesday’s shocking ADP payrolls data.
Despite a Washington Post survey that suggests a whopping 77% of jobless workers think they’ll get their jobs back, analysts aren’t so sure it’ll be that easy. According to Nick Bunker at Indeed Hiring Lab:
“In a week where claims are trending downward, roughly 1.3% of the working-age population filed an initial claim. Since the week covered in the March employment report, the number of people who have filed initial claims is equal to 20.3% of employment. That’s one in five jobs likely gone in seven weeks. The insured unemployment now stands at 15%.
The outlook for the labor market remains frightening. Not only does the pace of layoffs remain at unprecedented levels, but hiring intentions remain depressed. On Indeed, job postings were 39% below last year’s trend as of May 1st. Tomorrow’s jobs report will show tremendous amounts of unemployment. It won’t be the last one to do so."
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8:30 a.m. ET: New weekly unemployment claims total 3.169 million last week
New initial jobless claims came in at 3.169 million for the week ended May 2, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. This was higher than consensus estimates for 3 million, according to Bloomberg data, but 677,000 lower than the prior week’s revised level.
Continuing jobless claims were also greater than expected for the week ended April 25 at 22.647 million, a new record high. Consensus economists expected these to total 19.8 million. The prior week’s continuing jobless claims were upwardly revised to 18.011 million.
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7:11 a.m. ET Thursday: Stock futures point to a higher open
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): up 38 points, or 1.34%, to 2,871.5
Dow futures (YM=F): up 272 points, or 1.16%, to 23,785.00
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): up 120.75 points, or 1.35%, to 9,072.75
Crude (CL=F): +2.01 (+8.38%) to $26.00 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$9.20 (+0.54%) to $1,697.70 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -1.2 bps to yield 0.701%
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6:04 p.m. ET Wednesday: Stock futures little changed
Here were the main moves at the start of the overnight session for U.S. equity futures, as of 6:04 p.m. ET:
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): up 4.25 points, or 0.15%, to 2,837.75
Dow futures (YM=F): up 21 points, or 0.09%, to 23,534.00
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): up 11.75 points, or 0.13%, to 8,963.75
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