U.S. stocks traded mixed on Thursday as investors digested mixed economic data and disappointing guidance from chipmaker Micron (NASDAQ:MU) ahead of the first presidential debate between incumbent President Joe Biden and former President and current candidate Donald Trump.
Spot gold is now up 1.24% at $2,326.7 an ounce, while gold futures are up 1.02% at $2,336.2 an ounce.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is up 0.31%, the Dow Jones is up 0.29% and the S&P 500 is up 0.08%.
Bitcoin is up 1.01% at $61,838, Ethereum is up 2.69% at $3,461.04 and Solana is up nearly 7.4% after some major news. (The secret of Solana's 8% rise.. A first-time fund in America
A look at Wall Street
Micron falls on lackluster guidance, and other chipmakers follow
Sentiment was damaged on Thursday after the earnings of Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), a company often viewed as an industry leader due to its exposure to a variety of chip types and customers.
Micron's quarterly earnings beat market expectations, on the back of strong demand from artificial intelligence, but the mismatched revenue guidance disappointed investors who were expecting more, especially since Micron's value has doubled over the past year. Its stock fell more than 5%.
Other chipmakers also fell, with shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDAQ), Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM), and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) falling.
Focus on economic data, presidential debate
However, losses remain limited as investors appear to be in a state of anticipation ahead of key US inflation data and the upcoming presidential debate.
New orders for key US manufactured capital goods unexpectedly fell in May, suggesting that business spending on equipment weakened in the second quarter as borrowing costs continued to rise.
However, US jobless claims fell for the first time last week, which could ease concerns about a marked deterioration in the labor market.
Most eyes will be on the personal consumption expenditures price index on Friday, widely seen as the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
Markets were also jittery ahead of the first presidential debate of the year later on Thursday, between Democratic and Republican candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Levi Strauss and Walgreens Boots Fall
In other corporate news, Nike (NYSE:NKE) is set to report its latest earnings after the close.
Elsewhere, Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) stock fell 22% after the drugstore chain cut its 2024 financial guidance due to a worse-than-expected retail environment and announced it would close more stores as part of a strategic review.
Levi Strauss (NYSE:LEVI) stock fell 14% after the jeans maker reported a fiscal second-quarter revenue loss, hurt by slowing demand for Docker’s, its khaki and chino brand.
McCormick (NYSE:MKC) stock rose 4.4% after the spice maker beat market expectations for second-quarter earnings and sales, driven by strong demand for its spices and seasonings in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
International Paper (NYSE:IP) stock fell 8.9% after Bloomberg reported that Suzano Inc. is no longer pursuing a takeover of the paper and packaging group, with the Brazilian pulp giant said to have reached its maximum price.
Crude Oil Rebounds After U.S. Stockpile Increase
Crude oil prices rebounded on Thursday, rebounding from early losses following a surprise build in U.S. inventories.
By 09:40 ET, U.S. crude futures (WTI) were up 0.8% at $81.55 a barrel, while Brent crude futures were up 0.8% at $85.11 a barrel.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 3.6 million-barrel jump in the nation’s crude oil inventories last week, according to data released late Wednesday, disappointing market expectations for a draw of 2.6 million barrels.
More worrisome was a 2.7 million-barrel increase in gasoline inventories, suggesting that fuel consumption remains weak even as the summer travel season begins.