S&P 500 trades near record levels
The S&P 500 is nearing both its intraday and closing records.
The broad index is about 0.9% away from its all-time closing high of 6,144.15. It’s also around 0.9% off its record intraday high of 6,147.43.
Both of those records were set in February.
S&P 500
Jobless claims fall, GDP revised lower, durables orders soar
Initial unemployment claims were lower than expected while the economy grew at a slower than thought pace in the first quarter and orders for long-lasting goods rebounded strongly in May, according to separate reports released Thursday.
The data at a glance:
Jobless claims totaled a seasonally adjusted 236,000 for the week ending June 21, according to the Labor Department. That was below the 244,000 estimate, though continuing claims held at their highest since November 2021.Durable goods orders, which includes items such as airplanes, appliances and computers, surged 16.4% in May after falling 6.6% in April, the Commerce Department said. Excluding transportation, orders increased just 0.5%, though they were still up 15.5% excluding defense. The headline number was much better than the 7.5% estimate.First-quarter gross domestic product contracted at a 0.5% annualized pace, according to the last of three Commerce Department estimates that was lower than the 0.2% decline previously reported. The department attributed the fall to downward revisions in consumer spending and exports, offset somewhat by a downward revision to imports.
—Jeff Cox
Micron, Kratos highlight premarket movers
Here are a few of the stocks making notable moves ahead of the opening bell:
Micron Technology — The chipmaker rose 2% after its fiscal-third quarter financial results topped expectations. Micron’s adjusted earnings were $1.91 per share, versus the $1.60 cents expected from analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue was $9.3 billion, above the $8.87 billion consensus estimate.
Kratos Defense and Security Solutions — The military tech stock fell nearly 7% after Kratos said it would sell $500 million of stock. The company said the money raised could be used for capital spending, among other uses.
McCormick — The food spices stock rose more than 4% after adjusted earnings for the second quarter beat expectations. McCormick earned 69 cents per share, excluding items, while analysts were looking for 66 cents, according to LSEG.
Check out more movers here.
— Jesse Pound
Citi upgrades Truist Financial to buy rating from neutral
In a Thursday note, Citi upgraded Truist Financial to a buy rating from neutral. Analyst Keith Horowitz accompanied the upgrade by lifting his target price to $55 per share from $44.
Shares of Truist Financial are down 5% on the year.
TFC YTD chart
“Too much value on table to ignore,” Horowitz wrote. “We see tailwinds from ability to increase in buy backs due to strong capital position and cheap share price relative to intrinsic value.”
A rebound in capital markets activity leading fee growth could further boost shares of Truist Financial, especially as the company’s return on tangible common equity increases over the next two years. Horowitz added that Truist also looks attractive from a valuation standpoint.
“The stock continues to trade at a discount to our universe on our implied cost of equity metric and sentiment is increasingly bearish, setting relative bar and creating an attractive entry point,” he said.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Citizens Bank upgrades gambling stock Penn Entertainment to outperform
Citizens Bank believes that Penn Entertainment is reaching a turning point for the better.
In a Thursday note, analyst Jordan Bender upgraded the gambling stock to a market outperform rating from market perform. He simultaneously introduced a price target of $24, implying the stock could rally 38% from here.
Shares of Penn Entertainment have slipped 12% in 2025.
PENN YTD chart
“After several years of overpromising and underdelivering, leading to a bloated cost structure and balance sheet, we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Several catalysts, including casino openings/growth and shareholder returns, should bridge PENN into 2026, whereby the digital business turns into a call option for value, in our view,” he wrote. “The stock is down 87% from its all-time high (Russell 3000 -1%), yet we are nearing an inflection point in the story whereby we see 38% upside in shares.”
Bender added that current-quarter data has highlighted resiliency for Penn, despite a turbulent economic backdrop. Meanwhile, the company is also positioned as one of the “more favorable regional gaming companies in the space.”
— Lisa Kailai Han
Dollar Index falls to three year low
The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies on Thursday to its lowest level in more than three years.
The move comes as President Donald Trump is reportedly toying with nominating current Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s replacement as soon as the fall, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The ICE Dollar Index slipped to its lowest level in more than three years on Thursday.
The dollar index was last at roughly 97. The euro ticked up against the dollar and hit its highest level since September 2021.
The greenback has pulled back more than 10% so far in 2025.
— Brian Evans, Nick Wells
Record watch: Where major averages stand from their all-time highs
The major averages are within reach of their all-time highs. Here’s how far they are from those levels:
— Fred Imbert
Wall Street ‘alarmed’ and ‘depressed’ over Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral primary win
To say Wall Street isn’t a fan of Zohran Mamdani would be an understatement.
In fact, high-profile investors and business leaders in the Big Apple are up in arms about the stunning win by the democratic socialist in the primary to win the Democratic nomination to serve as the next New York City mayor. The three-term Assemblymember’s potential victory in the November general election could bring what the Street hates most — tax hikes and tighter regulation threatening corporate and investment interests.
Philippe Laffont, founder of hedge fund Coatue Management, told CNBC that a Mamdani win could trigger another exodus of wealthy investors. Since the pandemic, a wave of wealthy residents and institutional firms have fled the nation’s largest city for low-tax states such as Florida and Texas.
“Some people are going to, for sure, go,” Laffont said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Wednesday after former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the Democratic nomination. “It’s not quite done yet. There’s still an election. Maybe Cuomo will re-enter as an independent.”
Read the full story here.
— Yun Li, Alex Harring
Micron, H.B. Fuller, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions among the stocks making moves after hours
Some stocks are making sizable moves in extended trading Wednesday:
Micron – The maker of memory and storage products rose almost 4% after its fiscal third-quarter results topped analysts’ expectations. Micron posted adjusted earnings of $1.91 per share on $9.30 billion in revenue, while analysts surveyed by LSEG were calling for $1.60 per share and $8.87 billion in revenue. The company’s fourth-quarter guidance also came in better than expected.H.B. Fuller – The stock jumped more than 6% following the adhesive manufacturing company’s latest quarterly results. The company’s adjusted earnings of $1.18 per share topped the analyst estimate of $1.08 a share, per FactSet. H.B. Fuller’s full-year earnings forecast also came in strong.Kratos Defense & Security Solutions – Shares tumbled nearly 7%. On Wednesday, the IT security company announced plans for an underwritten public offering of $500 million of its common stock.
Click here to read the complete list.
— Sean Conlon
Stock futures open little changed
U.S. stock futures opened flat on Wednesday evening.
S&P 500 futures, along with Nasdaq 100 futures, traded just below the flatline shortly after 6pm ET. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were also flat.
— Sean Conlon
