The Thursday stock market saw an uptick in activity across major indexes, fueled by fresh job data. The tech-centric Nasdaq led the charge with a 1.3% surge, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 also made gains of 0.3% and 0.8%, respectively. Notably, all three indexes maintained levels comfortably above their 50-day moving averages.
Conversely, the Russell 2000 index experienced a modest 0.6% increase, remaining resilient above its 200-day moving average. Trading volume exhibited a decrease on the New York Stock Exchange but rose on the Nasdaq compared to the previous day.
Key exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) saw varied movements, with QQQ climbing 1.4% and FFTY edging up by less than 0.1%. The 10-year Treasury yield held steady at 4.12%.
In economic news, the Department of Labor released figures showing 220,000 initial weekly jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 2, slightly above estimates. Despite this uptick from the previous week, the numbers were still considered relatively low. Market participants are now awaiting the upcoming nonfarm U.S. payrolls report scheduled for Friday.
Moving on to individual stock movements, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) encountered a setback, dropping nearly 2% following Amazon’s decision to discontinue Venmo payments starting January 10. In contrast, Amazon (AMZN) shares rose by 2%, entering the buy zone of a consolidation pattern.
Ciena (CIEN) observed an uptick after surpassing estimates for fiscal fourth-quarter profit and revenue. However, its quarterly earnings growth decelerated compared to the previous periods. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) surged over 7% in heavy trading and led the Dow Jones index, reclaiming its 50-day line.
On the flip side, Veeva Systems (VEEV) faced a decline after beating fiscal third-quarter earnings and sales estimates but lowering its revenue outlook for the current quarter. In the technology sector, Braze (BRZE) experienced a sell-off despite reporting positive financials, while C3.ai (AI) struggled post its mixed earnings report.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained momentum following the launch of a new artificial intelligence chip, propelling the stock above the buy point of a cup-with-handle base. Alphabet (GOOGL) saw an uptick after introducing its AI software model “Gemini.” Rivian (RIVN) rallied after receiving a buy rating from Stifel with a $23 price target.
Retail stocks witnessed mixed performances, with Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (OLLI) plunging post-earnings and Chewy (CHWY) sinking following its fiscal Q3 report. Dollar General (DG) initially reported positive Q3 results but eventually turned negative in stock market action.
