S&P 500 is little changed as traders await key inflation data: Live updates

The S&P 500 traded near the flatline Thursday as Wall Street looked ahead to fresh inflation data for clues as to when the Federal Reserve will begin to lower interest rates.

The broad market index was up just 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% while, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 112 points, or 0.3%.

Semiconductor stocks were in the red, raising questions on whether the artificial intelligence trade can continue to sustain markets in the back half of this year. Micron shares slipped more than 6% after the chipmaker issued fourth-quarter revenue guidance in line with estimates. Semiconductor giant and market bellwether Nvidia also sagged, dipping 1.6%.

Those moves come as traders look to the release of May’s core personal consumption expenditures price index, which is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect core PCE rose 0.1% month over month and 2.6% from the year-earlier period.

Traders hope the report will show easing pricing pressures that could cement the likelihood the Fed will lower interest rates later this year.

“Should the PCE disappoint, stagflation headlines will hit the tape, but if estimates hold or surprise with cooler data, it should help the market ease into July,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.

To be sure, “An overbought market and relatively expensive market based on just a handful of mega names may need to recalibrate and allow other sectors to co-exist with them or even begin to lead the market,” said Krosby. “Such adjustments can trigger pockets of volatility coupled with attractive pockets of opportunity.”

Several stocks slid after reporting quarterly earnings. Levi Strauss dropped more than 16% after the jeans maker’s latest quarterly revenue disappointed investors. Walgreens Boots Alliance plunged 25% after cutting its full-year outlook and issuing lower-than-expected earnings in the previous quarter.

SM Energy slumps as much as 12% after acquisition, dividend raise and buyback

Denver-based SM Energy tumbled as much as 12% in reaction to a $2.55 billion acquisition of oil and gas assets from privately-held XCL Resources, or $2.04 billion after a concurrent sale of 20% of those holdings to Northern Oil and Gas for $510 million.

SM said the purchase, large in relation to SM’s market value of $5.65 billion, would be immediately accretive to earnings and funded through a combination of debt and cash on hand.

SM’s board also approved an 11% increase in its quarterly dividend, giving it a yield after today’s slide of some 1.9%, and authorized a new $500 million stock buyback.

— Scott Schnipper

Retail traders bought the recent dip in Nvidia

Retailer traders took Nvidia’s recent sell-off as a buying opportunity, snapping up shares of the dominant artificial intelligence chipmaker amid the volatility.

The cohort bought $1.8 billion worth of Nvidia shares over the past week as the Jensen Huang-led company suffered a quick pullback, according to JPMorgan data. 

Nvidia’s sell-off started last Thursday after it temporarily unseated Microsoft as the most valuable public company in the U.S. It went on to see a 13% slump in the span of just three days. The stock has since recouped some of those losses, and the shares are now off just 2% so far this week.

— Yun Li

Stocks making the biggest moves midday

Here are the stocks on the move midday:

• Walgreens Boots Alliance — The stock plummeted more than 24.5% after the retail company reported third-quarter earnings results that missed Wall Street’s expectations. The company also announced a cut to its full-year adjusted profit outlook and said it would close stores that are underperforming as a way to cut costs. Shares of CVS fell more than 4% in sympathy.
• Levi Strauss — The denim maker’s stock tumbled 17.1% after revenue came in at $1.44 billion for the second fiscal quarter. That is slightly below the consensus forecast of $1.45 billion from analysts polled by LSEG.
• International Paper — Shares of the paper manufacturing company fell nearly 8% following the news that Suzano is no longer pursuing a potential acquisition of the company. Suzano said it believes it had reached the maximum price for the transaction to general value without receiving any response from the other party.

Read the full list here.

— Sean Conlon

UBS strategists expect pullback ahead for stocks, say buy the dip

UBS derivatives strategists think the S&P 500 could sell off 2% to 3% in the next week or two, with pensions primed to sell about $30 billion to $40 billion amid low market liquidity.

That said, they think that pullback would be a good buying opportunity as many investors are properly hedged against a decline. “Further, summer seasonality typically points to lower volatility which should trigger $250-$300B of Buying from systematic funds,” the UBS strategists said.

— Fred Imbert

Tom Lee sees further upside for stocks and inflation falling ‘like a rock’

Fundstrat head of research Tom Lee told CNBC on Wednesday that he believes inflation is “going to fall like a rock” and help the stock market rally broaden out.

Lee pointed to the auto market in particular, where he sees downside on new car prices, as an area where goods inflation can continue to fall.

Lee also downplayed comparisons between the current market and the dot-com boom, saying investor sentiment does not feel like a bubble.

“There was a lot more ebullience back then, and a lot more people who didn’t think stocks could ever go down. I think there’s a lot of top-callers today,” Lee said on “Squawk Box.”

— Jesse Pound

Communication services leading weekly sector gains

Communication services is up 2.9% week to date, making it the top-performing sector in the S&P 500. Meta Platforms‘ 5% weekly gain is leading the sector, followed by Alphabet and News Corporation gaining more than 3%.

The energy sector is the second-highest gaining sector, rising 2%. Consumer discretionary is up 1.2% week to date, while information technology is just 0.1% higher.

— Hakyung Kim

Cybersecurity ETF pops 3%, heads for best day since November

The Global X Cybersecurity ETF jumped 3% Thursday and headed for its best day since November, when shares surged 3.7%.

BlackBerry was the biggest gainer in the fund, jumping 14% and on pace for its best day since August 2023. Telos Corporation and SentinelOne added more than 8% and 6%, respectively, while Palo Alto Networks surged 5%

Zscaler and Varonis Systems rose more than 4%.

— Samantha Subin, Gina Francolla

Hims & Hers shares tumble as questions mount about weight loss drug sales

Shares of telehealth platform Hims & Hers Health slid more than 8% Thursday after Hunterbrook Media published a report raising questions about the company’s sale of weight loss drugs. Hunterbook is affiliated with hedge fund Hunterbrook Capital, which has a short position in Hims & Hers.

The popularity of anti-obesity medications such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro has resulted in shortages of the drugs. Hims & Hers is exploiting a loophole that allows compounded versions of drugs in short supply to be sold. The company has said it plans to sell the branded GLP-1 medications to its clients once supplies are more reliable.

The stock has gained more than 142% since the start of the year as investors bet that strong demand for weight loss drugs would lead to rapid growth for the firm.

Both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have filed lawsuits against numerous suppliers who are selling knock-off versions of their medications.

— Christina Cheddar Berk

Gold on pace for first negative month in four

Gold is around 0.1% higher for the week. If the gains hold, the metal will notch its second positive week in three.

Month to date, however, gold is down 0.5%, on pace for its first negative month in four.

Year to date, gold is up 12.6%.

— Hakyung Kim, Gina Francolla

Stocks open little changed Thursday

U.S. stocks began Thursday’s trading session flat.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 42 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 was marginally lower, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1%.

— Hakyung Kim

Walgreens has dismal stock performance

Including today’s plunge following its poor earnings report, shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance have plummeted 41% since the stock was booted from the Dow back in February — a mere four months ago.

That is also on top of another 41% it dropped in the year prior to being removed from the index.

Over a two-year span, the stock has lost 70% of its value.

— Robert Hum

Here’s a rundown of all this morning’s economic news

Initial jobless claims edged lower, demand for long-lasting big-ticket items was better than expected and first-quarter economic growth rose a bit as did inflation for the period, according to economic data releases Thursday.

• The Commerce Department’s third and final estimate for Q1 gross domestic product showed a seasonally adjusted annualized gain of 1.4%. That was 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous estimate but in line with the Dow Jones estimate.
• Chain-weighted prices rose 3.1% in Q1, up from 3% previously. The personal consumption expenditures price index, which the Federal Reserve pegs as its preferred inflation gauge, rose 3.4% on all-items and 3.7% on the core, both 0.1 percentage point above the previous estimate.
• First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending June 22 totaled 233,000, down 6,000 from the previous week and below the 235,000 estimate, the Labor Department reported. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, rose to 1.839 million, the highest level since Nov. 27, 2021.
• New orders for “durable goods,” or long-lasting items such as aircraft, appliances and computers, unexpectedly increased 0.1% in May, below the downwardly revised 0.2% increase in April but better than the estimate for a 1% decline, according to the Census Bureau. Excluding defense, new orders were off 0.2% and down 0.1% ex-transportation.

—Jeff Cox

Stocks making the biggest moves before the bell: Walgreens, Levi Strauss and more

These are the stocks moving the most in premarket trading:

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Walgreens slashes earnings guidance, shares fall

Walgreens shares fell more than 8% in the premarket after the pharmacy operator cut its full-year earnings outlook.

″’We assumed.. in the second half that the consumer would get somewhat stronger” but “that is not the case,” Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth told CNBC. “The consumer is absolutely stunned by the absolute prices of things, and the fact that some of them may not be inflating doesn’t actually change their resistance to the current pricing. So we’ve had to get really keen, particularly in discretionary things.” 

— Fred Imbert

GSK falls after CDC RSV shot recommendation

GSK shares fell more than 1% in the premarket after the CDC held off on recommending RSV vaccines for adults younger than 60. The move comes after a 3% decline in the prior session and puts GSK on pace for a three-day losing streak.

— Fred Imbert

These economic reports are set to release Thursday

A raft of economic data set to release Thursday include weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders and pending home sales. Here are what economists anticipate ahead of the reports.

• Jobless claims for the week ending June 22 is expected to have increased by 240,000, according to economists polled by Dow Jones. That’s up slightly from 238,000 the prior week.
• Durable goods orders, which measures new orders with U.S. manufacturers of long-lasting goods such as machinery or equipment, is anticipated to have fallen by 0.6% in May, a Dow Jones consensus estimate showed. In the previous month, it had risen by 0.6%.
• Pending home sales, a gauge of housing contract activity, is expected by economists polled by Dow Jones to have risen 1% in May. That’s up from a decline of 7.7% in April.

— Sarah Min

Wheat futures touch 2-month low, on pace for worst month in two years

September wheat futures fell to $5.5625 a bushel (60 pounds) on Wednesday, the lowest since April 19, bringing the month-to-date decline to 17.6%, on pace for the worst month since June 2022.

Wheat futures are down 11% so far in 2024.

— Scott Schnipper and Gina Francolla

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours

Here are the stocks making the biggest moves in extended trading.

• Micron — Shares slipped 7% after the chipmaker issued current-quarter revenue guidance of $7.6 billion, which was in line with LSEG consensus estimates. Otherwise, the company beat third-quarter expectations on the top and bottom lines.
• Levi Strauss — The jeans maker dropped 12% after Levi Strauss posted disappointing quarterly revenue, in spite of a denim craze with consumers.
• AeroVironment — Shares fell 6% even after the maker of unmanned aerial vehicles posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations. AeroVironment posted adjusted earnings of 43 cents, topping the FactSet consensus estimate of 22 cents earnings per share. Revenue of $197 million also topped the estimated $188.5 million.

— Sarah Min

S&P 500 futures open slightly lower

U.S. S&P 500 futures opened slightly lower on Wednesday night.

S&P 500 futures dipped 0.19%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.32%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 73 points, or 0.18%.

— Sarah Min