Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 18, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Stocks stabilized on Thursday after a series of mixed quarterly results dampened investor sentiment.
Micron Shares fell more than 5% premarket after the chipmaker issued fourth-quarter revenue guidance in line with estimates. Levi Strauss The company's stock fell by 17.7% after the jeans maker's latest quarterly revenues disappointed investors. Walgreens Boots Alliance stock fell 21.5% after cutting its full-year forecast and releasing lower-than-expected earnings in the previous quarter.
Bank stocks came into focus after the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that the largest U.S. companies were able to withstand a severe recession scenario. Goldman Sachs Shares fell 2.3% in early trading.
The S&P 500 closed Wednesday up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq added 0.5%. Meanwhile, the Dow added 15.64 points, or 0.04%.
The moves come as Wall Street awaits the latest inflation data on Friday with the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index for May. Investors hope the report shows easing pricing pressures, which could boost the likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates later this year.
Even as trading activity slowed, big tech names continued to outperform on Wednesday, rebounding from a recent decline. Amazon shares reached an all-time high on Wednesday, surpassing a market cap of $2 trillion for the first time.
However, investors are deliberating whether AI trading can continue to support markets in the latter half of this year, or whether the rally will need to expand. Strategists surveyed by CNBC Pro expect that the S&P 500 is likely to end the year not even 1% higher than current levels.
“Right now, we're in this environment where the market is kind of in line with the Fed,” Brian Levitt, global market strategist at Invesco, told CNBC's “Closing Bell” on Wednesday. “And what you're probably going to need is a greater expectation in this market that the inflation story is already over, that the Fed can cut rates, and that a soft landing will happen.”
