In the United States today, the stock market is not making big moves like it did yesterday when it reached record highs.
In the morning, the S&P 500, which shows how the top 500 companies are doing, was a tiny bit higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which looks at 30 big companies, went up by 0.1%, which is about 36 points, by 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite, which focuses on technology companies, didn’t change much. Yesterday, all three of these measures hit new records.
Walmart’s stock went up by 6.4% after it shared that it made more money than experts expected in the last few months. It also said it might make even more money than it thought for the whole year. This could be good news for everyone because some worry about families keeping up with higher prices and credit card bills.
Target, another big store, also went up, and so did Dollar General.
Chubb, an insurance company, went up by 5.5% after Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway said it now owns some of it.
One reason the stock market has been going up a lot is that companies are making more money than people thought they would. Also, some people are hopeful that the government will make it easier for businesses to borrow money.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up by 0.1%, which is about 36 points
Some new reports said that more people than expected asked for help because they didn’t have a job last week. Builders made fewer houses than experts thought they would, and factories in the mid-Atlantic region didn’t do as well as hoped. Also, prices for things coming from other countries went up more than expected.
“The numbers today are like what we saw all week—nothing big, but it shows that the economy is steady or cooling down a little,” said Chris Larkin from E-Trade.
The interest rate on a 10-year government loan stayed the same at 4.35%. The interest rate for a 2-year loan, which is more connected to what people think the government will do with interest rates, went up a bit.
Some companies didn’t do as well today. Deere, which makes farming equipment, went down by 2.2% even though it made more money than expected. It said it might not make as much money as people thought for the whole year because farmers aren’t buying as much equipment.
GameStop and AMC Entertainment, which have been very popular recently, went down for the second day in a row. This is after they went up a lot at the start of the week. Their stock prices went down by 18% and 9.8%, respectively.
Around the world, most stock markets in Europe went down a bit, while they went up in Asia. Hong Kong’s market went up by 1.6% after being closed for a holiday, and Japan’s market went up by 1.4%.
