Investing.com – The S&P 500 closed unchanged on Thursday, taking a breather from hitting a record high a day earlier as investors weighed further signs of cooling in the labor market just a day before a major monthly U.S. jobs report.
At 4:00 pm ET (20:00 GMT), the price was up 0.2%, or 78 points, down 0.02% and down 0.1%.
Cooling labor market increases hopes for rate cuts; report on key vacancies expected
The number of Americans filing last week rose more than expected, reaching 229,000, up from an upwardly revised total of 221,000 the previous week, beating economists’ forecasts of 220,000.
The latest sign of cooling in the labor market after similar data earlier that fell short of estimates.
On Friday, a popular monthly report will be released in which economists expect the U.S. economy to add 185,000 jobs, a modest increase from the previous month.
Bets on a global rate cut are gaining momentum after the European Central Bank announced its first cut on Thursday.
Traders increased bets that the Fed would cut rates by 0.000%.
Nvidia shares fall after record highs
Nvidia (NASDAQ:) lost intraday gains, falling 1% on the day after its valuation topped $3 trillion and overtook Apple (NASDAQ:) as the second-biggest company on Wall Street amid growing excitement over its exposure to artificial intelligence. intelligence.
The decline in Nvidia shares followed a general decline in the tech sector, with shares of Apple and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) closing lower.
Lululemon is heaving; Five Below, Victoria’s Secret Fall
Elsewhere, a sportswear store Lululemon Athletics (NASDAQ:) rose nearly 5% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raising its full-year guidance.
Shares of discount company Five Below (NASDAQ:) fell 10% after releasing disappointing full-year earnings guidance.
Victoria’s Secret (NYSE:) shares fell 7% after the lingerie chain reported a net loss of $4 million in the first quarter, citing caution about the broader retail environment in North America.
Gamestop is bouncing like ‘Roaring Kitty has caused a new fever on memstocks
GameStop Corp. (NYSE:) jumped 47% after Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, who sparked the meme stock’s initial rally in 2020, scheduled a livestream on Youtube.
Gill is expected to shed light on his $5 million stake in Gamestop in an upcoming livestream.
(Peter Nurse and Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)