U.S. stocks held onto record levels amidst a mixed performance, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassing 40,000 points for the first time. The Dow reached an all-time high of 40,038 points, while the S&P 500 climbed to 5,333.25 points, and the Nasdaq rose to 16,765.31 points. This follows a record session for all three indices on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 closing at 5,308.67 points, the Nasdaq at 16,744.03 points, and the Dow at 39,911.81 points.
On Thursday, Walmart's shares rose 4% after the retailer announced better-than-expected quarterly results. The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims for the week ending May 11 fell by 10,000 to 222,000, down from 232,000 the previous week. Last week's claims were the highest since the last week of August 2023, although the number of layoffs remains relatively low.
In Europe, indices fluctuated on Thursday, with the Stoxx 600 down 0.02% after reaching record levels the previous day. The German DAX closed at 18,869.36 points, the French CAC 40 at 8,239.99 points, and the FTSE at 8,445.80 points after hitting a high of 8,471 points.
The Japanese Nikkei index hit a monthly high at the close on Thursday, following technology shares that mirrored their counterparts overseas, supported by slowing inflation in the U.S., which raised expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates in September. The Nikkei rose 1.39% to 38,920.26 points, marking its highest close since April 15. During the day, it briefly touched a monthly high of 38,949.38 points. The broader Topix index increased by 0.24% to 2,737.54 points.
Additionally, spot gold rose by 0.2% to $2,391.78 per ounce after reaching its highest level in more than three weeks on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures also increased by 0.1% to $2,396.10.
Brent crude futures climbed by 0.62% to $83.28 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by 0.81% to $79.29. The dollar index, which measures the currency against six major currencies, increased by 0.22% to 104.43 after a 0.75% drop on Wednesday, as investors raised their bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts, anticipating two reductions by the end of the year.
