U.S. stocks once again reached record levels on Thursday as investors look past weak economic data.
The Dow gained 153.60 points to 35,084.53 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to 4,419.15, both hitting their intraday records during the session.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, however, underperformed with a 0.1% gain to close at 14,778.26 as PayPal and Facebook fell 6.2% and 4%, respectively. The fall comes amid warning of significant growth slowdown after reporting their quarterly earnings.
Robinhood, which went public and started trading on the Nasdaq at $38 per share on Thursday, fell more than 8% on its first trading day. In fact, it was the worst opening day for a US IPO of its size ever.
On the green side, the shares of Ford jumped 3.8% after the automaker improved its 2021 outlook by reporting surprise profit in the second quarter.
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What’s driving these numbers?
According to a CNBC report, 400,000 people recently filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, a level that is almost double the pre-pandemic numbers and above a Dow Jones estimate of 385,000.
The report also said U.S. Q2 GDP accelerated 6.5% annually, a rate that is less than the 8.4% Dow Jones estimate.
The Federal Reserve’s silence on dialing back asset purchases comes as a relief to many investors, the economy, according to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, still has a long way to go before the central bank can adjust its easy policies.
“I think we’re some way away from having had substantial further progress toward the maximum employment goal. I would want to see some strong job numbers,” Powell said.
The major averages are on track to end July higher, with stocks of the S&P up 2.8% and the Nasdaq Composite and Dow up nearly 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively.
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