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Wall Street reverses course to finish in the green, airline stocks ascend on reopening optimism

Last updated: 16:22 25 Mar 2021 EDT, First published: 08:05 25 Mar 2021 EDT

Green up arrow in LED lights

4:20pm: Nasdaq ekes out a positive finish

The Dow ended the Thursday session up 199 points, 0.6%, at 32,619 after spending a few hours below the flatline after the open. The Nasdaq ticked up 16 points, 0.1%, to 12,978, and the S&P 500 added 20 points, 0.5%, to 3,910.

Airline stocks moved skyward on coronavirus reopening optimism. American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL), Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) and Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) all added more than 3%.

12:50pm: GameStop continues to seesaw day to day

After spending the morning hours in the red, the Dow broke into positive territory, adding 47 points to 32,467. The Nasdaq managed to pick up 9 points to 12,971, and the S&P 500 improved 7 points to 3,897.

"Growing market scepticism has been reflected in falling Treasury yields, although the expected outperformance for growth stocks in such a scenario has done little to boost the Nasdaq," IG Senior Market Analyst Joshua Mahony wrote Thursday. "Banking stocks provide one are of strength in a sea of pessimism, with improved jobless claims and GDP data signalling a potential upward path for rates in the coming years."

GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) has rebounded after Tuesday evening earnings sent the stock tumbling on Wednesday. Shares have gained more than 32% to $159.

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9.49am: Wall Street starts lower

The main Wall Street indices kicked off Thursday’s session in negative territory despite a sharp drop in US jobless claims last week.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.44% at 32,276 while the S&P 500 dropped 0.38% to 3,873 and the Nasdaq fell 0.6% to 12,884.

The slower start for the markets came as new US jobless claims data showed that 684,000 Americans filed for unemployment in the week to March 19, down from 781,000 the week before and the first time the figure has been below 700,000 since mid-March last year when the pandemic began to hit the US economy.

However, continuous claims painted a bleaker picture, rising to 18.9mln from 18.2mln the week before and potentially indicating that a large portion for US workers are facing long-term unemployment, which in turn could hinder their integration back into the workforce post-pandemic.

Claims also still remain above the highs seen during the 2008 financial crisis, suggesting the economic fallout of COVID-19 could be worse in the long-term than the last economic crash.

8:05am: Wall Street to make cautious start 

Wall Street is expected to open slightly lower despite positive comments on the US economy in the past couple of days of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Reversing early indications of a gain, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is forecast to start trading down 47 points at 32,373. The S&P 500 is expected to open 6 points lower at 3883 and the Nasdaq Composite down 16 points at 12,945.

Ahead of the open come US growth figures and weekly jobless claims, both or either of which could have an impact on which way the US market ultimately goes.

US GDP is forecast to have risen by an annualised 4.1% in the fourth quarter of last year, in line with the previous provisional estimate. Meanwhile, jobless claims are predicted to fall from 770,000 to 730,000, but these can sometimes produce a surprise.

Three things to watch for on Thursday:

  • The earnings calendar for Thursday is looking rather thin, with the only large cap results coming from Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants Inc (NYSE:DRI), which managed to beat estimates
  • Shares in Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) could be in focus amid an ongoing boycott of western brands in China following sanctions from several nations on Communist officials accused of involvement in human rights abuses of Uyghurs in Xinjiang province
  • Commodities and oil prices may also continue to attract attention as the Suez canal remains blocked by a grounded cargo tanker that became lodged there earlier this week

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