NEW YORK – Wall Street’s record-breaking runs rolled, and stocks were rising Thursday as a set of data from the U.S. allowed the Fed to lower interest rates to promote the economy to lower the path to lower interest rates.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and is expected to set its all-time high to its all-time highest for the third consecutive day. As of 11 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 546 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Comprehensive Materials was 0.6%. Both are also moving towards recording.
The bond market’s fiscal yields have been lowered after the economic report, which is some final data release that can shake the Fed’s mind before next week’s meeting. The consensus expectation on Wall Street is that it will lower its major interest rates for the first time this year.
A report on Thursday said more U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, suggesting that the number of layoffs may be increasing. This is the latest frustrating signal in the job market, and recruitment has slowed significantly. The labor market seems to have fallen into a low-hire, low-fire state, but the increase in layoffs may make it more viscous.
Wall Street hopes have been slowing down, but only precisely measured. The job market must be concerned enough to allow the Fed to lower interest rates, which can start the economy and investment prices, but not so weak that it creates a recession.
The Fed has been reluctant to lower interest rates throughout 2025 as President Donald Trump’s tariffs could make inflation worse. That’s because lower interest rates can drive higher inflation.
A report on inflation on Thursday showed that prices in U.S. households continued to rise faster than the Fed hoped, but only as economists expected. Consumers paid for food, gasoline and other living expenses, which were 2.9% higher than the same period last year, a slight acceleration from the inflation rate of 2.7% in July.
This exceeds the Fed’s target by 2%, but traders believe that it is not enough to convince the Fed that inflation is a bigger problem for the economy than a slowing job market. The Fed has only one tool to solve problems, and moving interest rates to help one tool usually means hurting another in the short term.
“Currently, inflation is a key sub-plot, but the labor market remains the main story,” said Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
On Wall Street, Centene helped the market at a rate of 12.1%. The healthcare company said its business results continued into August and it was tracking profit forecasts earlier this year. This is not just an analyst’s prediction.
Opendoor Technologies soared 51.5% after the company, which helps people buy and sell homes online. Shopify Chief Operating Officer Kaz Nejatian serves as CEO. It also announced $40 million in investments from one founder and an investment company associated with another founder.
Kroger reported in the grocer that profits in the latest quarter were 1.9% higher than analysts expected, although its revenue was slightly larger than forecast. It also improves the profit margins of its full-year forecast range.
Helping to keep market earnings was Oracle, which fell 3.6%. But that will only start to give back to its monster surge the day before, when its best day since 1992 soared by nearly 36%, an excitement for billion-dollar contracts, and the madness surrounding artificial intelligence technology will win huge interest.
In foreign stock markets, the European index rose after the European Central Bank kept its interest rates unchanged at its latest meeting. European banks are pausing after earlier cuts, and its president, Christine Lagarde, said future moves are “not on the scheduled path”.
France’s CAC 40 rose 0.6%, while Germany’s DAX returned 0.3%.
In Asia, the index is mostly high. Stocks jumped 1.7% in Shanghai, but Hong Kong fell 0.4%.
In the bond market, a 4.04% yield from 4.04% late Wednesday lowered the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.01%.
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AP writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.
