4:21pm: Indexes fall Thursday afternoon
The Dow closed Thursday down 220 points, 0.7%, at 33,892, the Nasdaq Composite fell 129 points, 0.9%, to 13,521 and the S&P 500 lost 35 points, 0.8%, to 4,347. The small-cap Russell 2000 index declined 27 points, 1.6%, to 1,687.
The S&P 500 lost an eight-session winning streak as the indexes tumbled in the afternoon. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the FOMC may need to do more to lower inflation.
“The Federal Open Market Committee is committed to achieving a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2 percent over time; we are not confident that we have achieved such a stance,” Powell said in prepared remarks.
Meanwhile, shares of Disney jumped after the company's third-quarter earnings coincided with an end to the actors' strike.
12:00pm: Fed officials suggest full impact of rate rises yet to be seen
US stocks were mixed at noon as investors a speech from Federal Reserve chiar Jerome Powell for a further insight on his outlook for interest rates.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 16.18 points, 0.05%, at 34,096.09, the S&P 500 was up 3.63 points, 0.1%, at 4,386.41 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 33.23 points, 0.2%, at 13,683.64.
Two Fed officials, Thomas Barkin and Raphael Bostic, said the economy still hasn’t felt the full effect of past hikes, suggesting more slowing is yet to come.
“In aggregate, we are still not seeing the full effects of policy,” Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said Thursday during a fireside chat in New Orleans.
Speaking at the same event, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he agreed.
Stocks on the move included Nvidia, up 3.3% after reports it is working on artificial intelligence-optimised chips in China, based on its flagship H100 AI chip.
9:40am: Stocks little changed after as expected jobs data
Stocks made a subdued start, after broadly as expected jobless claims figures, with investors awaiting remarks from Jerome Powell and a raft of Federal Reserve speakers.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 34,110.49, the S&P 500 was up 3.50 points, 0.1%, at 4,386.28 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 4.60 points at 13,655.01.
US initial jobless claims were slightly lower than expected in the most recent week, numbers on Thursday showed.
According to the Department of Labor, new claims amounted to 217,000 in the week ended November 4, down from 220,000 a week prior. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 217,000.
The latest reading was slightly lower than the FXStreet-cited consensus of 218,000.
The four-week moving average was 212,250, up 1,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 to 210,750 from 210,000
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said he expected a bigger increase this week but the weekly numbers are volatile even when the trend is steady
Layoffs remain very low, he pointed out. “For now, though, most of the near-term risk to payroll growth is slowing gross hiring, rather than increased firing,” he suggested.
7:00am: US stocks set for steady gains when trading kicks off
US stocks are expected to open modest gains at the open although the euphoria of last has calmed, at least for now.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%, while those for the S&P 500 were 0.1% higher, and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed.
Joshua Mahoney at Scope Markets said “the S&P 500 will be hoping to post a ninth consecutive day of gains today, although the momentum of last week has certainly given way to a more hesitant period, driven primarily by big tech.”
“There is a hope that today’s comments from ECB Governor Lagarde and Fed Chair Jerome Powell could unlock the next big move for markets, with the recent recovery coming thanks to a widespread shift away from tightening and towards the timing of the 2024 easing process.”
“However, traders should be careful not to get too carried away, with any monetary easing likely to be prolonged and gradual in nature,” he added.
US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell will speak at the IMF’s annual research conference in Washington while the presidents of the Atlanta, Richmond and St Louis Fed branches will also be giving speeches.
Elsewhere, earnings from Fox News, Wall Street Journal parent News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS), and Tapestry, owner of luxury retailers Coach and Stuart Weitzman, are due before the opening bell.