4:16pm: Indexes rise across the board
The Dow closed Wednesday up 185 points, 0.5%, at 35,273, the Nasdaq Composite gained 66 points, 0.5%, to 14,266 and the S&P 500 improved 18 points, 0.4%, to 4,557. The small-cap Russell 2000 index added 12 points, 0.7%, to 1,796.
After snapping a winning streak on Tuesday, the indexes returned to their winning ways the day before the Thanksgiving holiday. In November, the Dow is up 7%, the Nasdaq has gained 11% and the S&P 500 has risen 8%.
“I’d probably be leaning more towards the camp at this rally could continue a little bit longer,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management. “A soft landing from the Fed [is] becoming more and more of a possibility as inflation continues to come down. ... Against that backdrop, as we head into 2024, I think equities will continue to perform pretty well.”
12:00pm: Wall Street buoyant ahead of Thanksgiving
US stocks remained in the green ahead of Thursday’s public holiday and after Treasury yields dropped to a two-month low.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 184.99 points, 0.5%, 35,273.28, the S&P 500 was up 20.88 points, 0.5%, at 4,559.07 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 90.04 points, 0.6%, at 14,290.02.
The gains came despite a 3.1% fall in Nvidia which eased despite its forecast-topping results on concerns of a drop in sales to China because of recently tightened AI chip rules.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury hit a two-month low of 4.36% in the day before rallying slightly.
Shares in ExxonMobil eased 0.9% as the oil price dropped after Opec+ pulled its meeting on Sunday - the price of West Texas Intermediate traded 3.9% lower at $74.79.
9:40am: US stocks power ahead as bond yields drop
US stocks opened ahead of Thursday’s holiday as bond yields fell amid mixed economic data which backed hopes that interest rates have peaked.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 136.80 points, 0.4%, at 35,225.09, the S&P 500 was up 26.09 points, 0.6%, at 4,564.28, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 159.62 points, 1.1%, at 14,359.61.
US initial jobless claims were lower than expected in the most recent week, numbers showed.
According to the Department of Labor, new claims amounted to 209,000 in the week to November 18, down from the previous week's revised level of 233,000. The previous week's figure was upwardly revised by 2,000 from 231,000.
The latest figure was below the FXStreet-cited market consensus of 225,000.
The more resilient numbers follow a series of releases which suggested the jobs market was cooling.
But elsewhere, durable goods orders declined in October by more than expected as commercial aircraft bookings retreated and demand weakened for business equipment.
Nvidia started the day in the red, down 0.4%, despite its forecast-busting numbers but Microsoft was a warm order, up 1.5%, as it continued to be the seen as a winner from the chaos at OpenAI.
7:00am: Futures point to modest gains as investors weigh-up Nvidia earnings
US markets are expected to open modestly higher as investors digest results from Nvidia and the latest hints on monetary policy from the US central bank.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1%, while those for the S&P 500 were 0.2% higher, and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3%.
Shares in Nvidia were gaining traction heading to the open, with shares up 1.2% in pre-market trading after initially falling by around 2% in the aftermath of third quarter earnings.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould noted that for the third time in a row the silicon chip specialist “hugely outstripped” analysts’ expectations for quarterly earnings and raised guidance for the next three months to levels that also exceeded forecasts.
But he explained the shares are not responding as strongly as they did after the bumper first and second quarter results, as investors ponder “the risks posed by American sanctions on Chinese buying” and also Nvidia’s already huge market valuation.
“It’s a great quarter,” trader Guy Adami told CNBC’s “Fast Money.” “But at what point do you say to yourself, you know what, now the valuation is starting to get a little bit stretched. We understand it can grow into it, but we’re going to start taking profits in the name.”
Elsewhere, minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting showed the US central bank felt interest rates would need to remain high for "some time" judging it as "critical" to return "unacceptably high" inflation to its 2% target.
Officials "continued to judge that it was critical that the stance of monetary policy be kept sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to the committee’s 2% objective over time,” the minutes showed.
In economic news, weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders and consumer sentiment figures will all be reported ahead of Thanksgiving tomorrow when markets will be closed.