Stocks traded mixed Thursday as investors weighed the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision and update projections against an unexpected rise in weekly unemployment claims.
Wall Street ended the previous session lower after the Federal Open Market Committee's new projections pointed to two interest rate hikes by the end of 2023, much sooner than prior forecasts for rate increases to start in 2024. Committee members also upgraded their forecasts for economic growth and inflation, affirming outlooks that the current inflation period may last longer than previously expected.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.04% or -1.84 points to 4,221.86
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.62% or -210.22 points to 33,823.45
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.87% or +121.67 points to 14,161.35
Biden establishes Juneteenth as federal holiday:
President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a bill establishing Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, as a federal holiday. Juneteenth National Independence Day, which will be celebrated on June 19, will become the twelfth legal public holiday and the first new one created since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law by former-President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
Most federal workers will observe Juneteenth on Friday this year because June 19 falls on a Saturday. The New York Stock Exchange will not be closed for Juneteenth this year, but will evaluating closing markets for the holiday in the future.
23andMe pops on Nasdaq debut:
Personal genetic testing firm 23andMe (NASDAQ: ME) rose more than 7% Thursday afternoon in the company's trading debut on the Nasdaq. A day earlier, the company closed its merger with the blank check company VG Acquisition Corp founded by Richard Branson. The special purpose acquisition company merger valued 23andME at $3.5 billion.
Here's how the market started trading after open:
S&P 500 Index: +0.02% or +0.74 points to 4,224.44
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.04% or +12.10 points to 34,045.77
Nasdaq Composite Index: -0.04% or -6.03 points to 14,038.13
Weekly unemployment claims unexpectedly rise:
Initial unemployment claims rose for the first time in seven weeks last week, disappointing economists looking for a fresh pandemic-era low.
Jobless claims totaled 412,000 for the week ended June 12, well above the 360,000 expects and the 375,000 reported the previous week. Continuing claims also unexpectedly increased for the week ended June 5, totaling 3.518 million compared to the 3.425 million anticipated.