US stocks were little changed Thursday as trading resumed after the Christmas holiday and Wall Street digested one of the only significant economic data points of the week.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) slipped slightly, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) hovered near the flatline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) flipped between positive and negative territory.
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell to hover near the $96,000 level as volatile trading continued. Crypto-linked stocks like MicroStrategy (MSTR) tracked the declines.
Markets looked to be struggling in a bid to extend the start of the “Santa Claus rally,” which kicked off with a bang on Tuesday. All three major indexes rose around 1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite moved to within striking distance of their records after clawing back gains from a Fed-fueled dive last week.
As Wall Street saunters back from its holiday break, the normally routine release on weekly jobless claims took more of a spotlight than usual as the only piece of the jobs puzzle on the docket this week.
According to the latest Labor Department data, weekly jobless claims fell to 219,000 compared with expectations of 223,000. However continuing claims pointed to a cooling labor market, jumping by 46,000 in the week ending Dec. 14 to 1.91 million, the highest level since November 2021.
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Shares of Tesla, Meta slip as major averages hug flatline
Stocks wavered by 1 p.m. ET with the major averages flipping between positive and negative territory.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) hugged the flatline while The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was also little changed.
Shares of EV giant Tesla (TSLA) and social media company Meta (META) both, weighing on the Communication Services and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
Meanwhile chip stock Broadcom (AVGO) rose for a fourth straight day.
GameStop rises on mysterious ‘Roaring Kitty’ tweet
GameStop (GME) stock rose as much as 10% early Thursday before paring gains. Shares were up roughly 6% midday.
The stock’s gain comes after infamous meme stock trader “Roaring Kitty” — whose real name is…
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