- US stocks rose on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
- Investors were assessing jobless claims, which were the lowest in five weeks.
US stocks rose on Wednesday as investors prepared to wind down trading for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Traders were assessing weekly jobless claims, which dropped by 24,000 compared to the prior week to 209,000. The previous week's figure had been the highest since August.
Stocks in the prior session ended a streak of gains after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed the central bank maintaining a hawkish stance on monetary policy.
Bond yields on Wednesday slipped, with the 10-year Treasury rate down about three basis points. Oil prices also tumbled as OPEC+ pushed back a key meeting in which member states were set to discuss future output. US crude prices were down more than 4%, below $75 a barrel.
After taking Thursday off, markets will reopen Friday for a shortened trading session.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 4,560.42, up 0.49%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,232.69, up 0.41% (144.40 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 14,323.25, up 0.87%
Here's what else is happening today:
- The US dollar is central to Javier Milei's plan to fix Argentina's economy. It probably won't work.
- Nvidia added $28 billion in market value after its big earnings beat.
- Soaring mortgage rates have taken their toll on the US housing market, with sales hitting a 13-year low.
- Fed economists say there's "notable" pressure on the price of stocks, homes, and commercial real estate.
In commodities, bonds and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil plunged 4% to $74.53 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, also fell 4% to $79.10 a barrel.
- Gold inched lower to $2,001.30 an ounce.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped three basis points to 4.39%.
- Bitcoin slid 1% to $36,543.