Stocks were mixed Thursday as market participants rotated out of growth stocks amid rising concerns over the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike campaign. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 50 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% and 0.9%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.32% or -14.34 points to 4,451.14
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.17% or +57.54 points to 34,500.73
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.89% or -123.64 points to 13,748.83
Fresh economic reports out Thursday helped fuel fears that the Fed may raise it benchmark interest rate again at its November meeting. The Labor Department reported fewer-than-expected jobless claims, coming in at 216,000 for the week ended Sept. 2, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unit labor costs, which is the cost of hourly wages minus productivity, increased at a higher-than-expected rate of 2.2% in the second quarter -- these reports signaled a still resilient labor market that may lead the central bank to continue its hawkish monetary policy.
Market participants are still forecasting a more than 90% chance the Fed will maintain interest rates at their current level at September's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. However, expectations for another rate hike have risen to more than 40% for the central bank's following November meeting.
Semiconductor stocks like Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) all fell on Thursday as technology names were pressured on Thursday.
Slightly bucking the sector's trend on Thursday, Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) shares were slightly higher after Citi raised its target price for the chipmaker to $85 from $75, implying a more than 20% upside from Wednesday's close. Analyst Christopher Danely also reiterated Micron as one of the firm's top picks in the U.S. semiconductor segment.
"Micron is exhibiting three signs of a bottom: lower capex, trough valuation, and most of the downside in Consensus estimates," Danely wrote in a Thursday note.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares also weighed down the broader market following a Bloomberg News report that China is looking to expand a ban on the use of iPhones by state-owned companies. A fifth of Apple's revenue yield could be threatened if it is pushed out of the Chinese market, Bloomberg reports.
Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak reiterated the firm's Overweight rating on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) on Thursday and maintained the stock's $375 price target as the firm remains bullish on the company's potential revenue growth from Reels. Nowak sees Reels revenue growth at about 108% year-over-year in 2024, garnering about $13 billion in ad revenue.
"This speaks to the Reels revenue opportunity yet to come (through higher ad load, performance-driven pricing, and improved matching/attribution)," Nowak wrote in a late Wednesday note. "The fact that Reels engagement is driving incremental time spent on the platform (we believe at a rising rate in 2Q:23) gives more confidence in Reels ability to drive META's ad revenue."
For Friday, market participants will react to earnings reports from DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU) and Kroger (NYSE: KR) as the second quarter earnings season nears its close.