Gains in retailers and communications services companies helped outweigh losses in consumer goods makers, financial stocks and elsewhere in the market. Amazon.com rose 2.2 per cent and Meta Platforms added 1.3 per cent.
Walgreens Boosts Alliance plunged 22.2 per cent for the biggest drop in the S&P 500. It reported results that fell shy of forecasts and cut its outlook. The company said it could close hundreds more stores in the next three years.
Treasury yields fell in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, fell to 4.28 per cent from 4.33 per cent late Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 4.71 per cent from 4.75 per cent.
An update from the government said the American economy expanded at a 1.4 per cent annual pace from January through March. The figure is a slight revision from a prior estimate of 1.3 per cent. It marks the slowest quarterly growth since spring 2022.
The report also backed data from previous economic reports that show consumers are getting squeezed by persistent inflation and high interest rates. Consumer spending, which has been fuelling economic growth, grew at just a 1.5 per cent rate, down from an initial estimate of 2 per cent, according to the report.
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The main upshot from the report is that “the economy remained resilient in the first quarter but that private sector demand growth was cooling, led by more consumer prudence,” said Gregory Daco, EY chief economist, in a note.
The stock market has been listless this week in the lead up to Friday’s release of the next influential inflation report from the government. The personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE, is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation.
The latest updates on inflation could influence the central bank’s decision on when to begin cutting interest rates, which remain at their highest level in more than 20 years and which are having an impact worldwide. Wall Street is betting that the central bank will start cutting interest rates at its September meeting.
With AP