U.S. stocks woke from a sluggish start to close higher Thursday, with the broad S&P 500 index again notching a record high after President Donald Trump called for lower interest rates and cheaper oil.
In a virtual address to the World Economic Forum, Trump said he would “demand that interest rates drop immediately” and ask Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries to drop the cost of oil. He also made tariff threats again.
The S&P 500 closed at a record high 6,118.71, up 0.53%, or 32.24 points. The blue-chip Dow edged up 0.92%, or 408.34 points, to 44,565.07; and the tech-laden Nasdaq added 0.22%, or 44.34 points, to 20,053.68.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was just higher at 4.644%, and oil fell 1.6% to $74.24 per barrel.
Thursday’s gains expanded the week’s earlier advance on relief Trump has backed away from aggressive, across-the-board tariffs during his first days in office.
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Markets shrugged off a rise in first-time jobless claims last week to 223,000, a six-week high driven by Californians displaced due to the wildfires. So-called continuing claims, or those who have already been collecting weekly unemployment benefits, rose to the highest level since 2018, excluding the pandemic era, suggesting it’s taking unemployed workers longer to find jobs.
Corporate news
After a strong start to earnings season with most big banks outperforming expectations, investors got a mixed bag on Thursday.
American Airlines unexpectedly warned of a loss per share in the first three months of the year that could pull full year earnings below analysts’ forecasts. Shares fell 8.74%.
In contrast, Alaska Air Group expects a smaller-than-expected loss in its first three months. Its shares rose more than 2%.
Electronic Arts shares tumbled 16.7% after the company cut its revenue outlook, partly because of fewer gamers playing its soccer-themed video-game titles.
Chip darling Nvidia and other semiconductor shares dropped after one of its main suppliers, South Korea’s SK Hynix, warned of uncertain demand this year for some of its memory products used in smartphones and computers. SK Hynix also gave a cautious spending outlook.
After the market closed, Boeing said it expects to a report a loss per share in the final three months of last year on lower-than-expected revenues. The jet maker said results were negatively affected by a nearly two-month labor strike last year and other issues at the manufacturer. Shares were off nearly 2% in after-hours trading.
Bitcoin volatility
Bitcoin continued to trade choppily, turning lower by the end of the day. The cryptocurrency was last down 0.87% at $102,657.90 despite positive remarks from Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon.
Solomon reportedly said at Davos he saw bitcoin as an “interesting speculative asset” and that the cryptocurrency’s “underlying technology” is a focus of significant research at Goldman Sachs to test it in ways that could “create less friction in the financial system.”
Regulation, though, is preventing banks like his to be more active in bitcoin. “At the moment, from a regulatory perspective, we can’t own, we can’t principal, we can’t be involved with bitcoin at all,” he said.
Under Trump, the Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to be crypto-friendly and set new guidelines for crypto.
On Thursday, Trump also signed a crypto executive order that creates a working group to advise the White House on digital asset policies. The group will include the involvement of key federal agencies, like the Treasury Department, Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
(This story was updated with new information.)
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
