(Sharecast News) - Major indices pushed into the green on Thursday as softer Treasury yields and falling oil prices offset lingering nerves over the Fed's latest rate hike.
As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.34% at 51,637.83, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.82% to 7,613.62 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 1.34% firmer at 26,326.32.
The Dow opened 175.93 points higher on Thursday, reclaming a fraction of the losses recorded in the previous session after Kevin Warsh stressed that inflation risks had not improved.
The Federal Reserve's decision to deliver a widely expected quarter‑point increase was still in focus early on Thursday, with the central bank lifting the federal funds target range to 3.75% to 4%, and signalling that another move was likely before year‑end. Chairman Kevin Warsh said inflation "remains too high", underscoring the risk of further tightening.
Market participants were also keeping a keen eye on the relationship between Warsh and Donald Trump, who continued to push for lower rates after the FOMC's decision. "Interest rates in the United States should be 1%, or less, because we are the best credit in the world - by far," Trump said on social media.
Treasury yields were also in focus early on Thursday, with the benchmark 10‑year note slipping back below the 5% mark, falling by a little more than five basis points to 4.949%, reversing part of Wednesday's move higher.
Oil prices also moved lower, helping to support equities, with US crude trading around 1% weaker at roughly $100 a barrel, while Brent declined by roughly 2% to near $102 dollars following reports that Saudi Arabia would make additional crude cargoes available to Asian refiners through ship‑to‑ship transfers near Oman's Sohar port, easing recent supply‑disruption concerns.
On the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 12 September, according to the Labor Department, extending recent resilience in the labour market. Initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 196,000, better than expectations for an increase to 208,000 and in keeping with a recent run of low claim counts since hitting an almost 60-year low of 189,000 in mid July. Continuing claims fell by 39,000 week-on-week to 1.73m, below expectations of 1.78m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, also came in at 203,250, a decrease of 2,750 from the prior week. The Labor Department also said the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1% for the week ended 5 September, down from the previous week's unrevised 1.2% print.
Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing gauge eased in September but remained firmly in expansion territory, coming in well above forecasts. The headline index slipped to 37.8 from 47.4 in August, though it comfortably beat expectations for 30.5, signalling continued growth in regional factory activity, albeit at a slower pace. New orders and shipments stayed elevated, while the employment measure softened but remained positive, pointing to ongoing job creation. Price pressures, on the other hand, picked up again after easing last month, with both prices‑paid and prices‑received indices moving higher. Firms remained upbeat about the outlook, with 57.9% expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months and only 5% anticipating a decline.
On another note, US building permits and housing starts both declined in August, according to the Census Bureau, offering a softer read on construction activity even as regional trends diverged. Building permits fell 2.7% month‑on‑month to an annualised print of 1.39m, below expectations for a reading of 1.41m, while housing starts slipped 2.6% to 1.275m, the lowest level since October 2025 and short of forecasts for 1.31m.
Finally, US pending home sales edged higher in August, according to the National Association of Realtors, but remained down sharply on an annualised basis. Contract signings rose 0.3% month‑on‑month, with gains in the South and West offset by declines in the Northeast and Midwest. Compared with a year earlier, however, pending sales were 4.7% lower, with all four major regions posting annual decreases. Regionally, the Northeast saw a 4.2% monthly drop and a 3.9% annual decline, while the Midwest fell 1.6% on the month and 4.9% year‑on‑year. The South recorded a 2.3% monthly rise, but was still 3.8% lower than a year ago, and the West climbed 3% on the month but slipped 6.7% year‑on‑year.
No major earnings were scheduled for release on Thursday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $109.08 6.40%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $801.16 2.84%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $307.14 1.40%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $146.87 1.32%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $241.00 1.31%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $377.83 0.88%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $269.89 0.86%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $495.72 0.83%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $250.09 0.54%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $377.96 0.49%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $242.53 -3.20%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $29.71 -1.40%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $109.65 -1.16%
Boeing Co. (BA) $200.52 -0.76%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $330.77 -0.74%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.38 -0.73%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $376.61 -0.67%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $936.12 -0.52%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $106.62 -0.40%
Visa Inc. (V) $369.74 -0.37%
S&P 500 - Risers
Corning Inc. (GLW) $153.30 6.72%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $109.08 6.40%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $60.39 6.17%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $983.75 6.03%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $40.78 4.62%
Eaton Corporation plc (ETN) $412.68 4.54%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $79.05 4.49%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $149.13 4.32%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $809.99 4.21%
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE) $55.47 3.62%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN) $15.62 -5.73%
Equity Residential (EQR) $63.66 -3.50%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $23.47 -3.35%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $242.53 -3.20%
Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $65.36 -3.02%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $134.74 -2.97%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $217.71 -2.92%
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (WTW) $310.09 -2.79%
Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $30.38 -2.52%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $109.08 6.40%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $983.75 6.03%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $809.99 4.21%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $196.49 4.09%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $381.14 3.54%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $110.35 3.29%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $126.25 3.15%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $369.79 2.79%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $241.38 2.71%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $429.26 2.68%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $172.65 -4.15%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $28.30 -3.84%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $23.47 -3.35%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $134.74 -2.97%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $217.71 -2.92%
Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $30.38 -2.52%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $118.48 -2.42%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $315.28 -2.41%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $247.76 -2.10%