Wall Street closed mostly flat on Thursday as investors weighed renewed trade dialogue between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping against a batch of disappointing economic data, just ahead of a closely watched U.S. jobs report due Friday.
Wall Street edged higher on Thursday as investors weighed renewed trade discussions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping against a slate of disappointing U.S. economic data ahead of Friday’s pivotal jobs report.
In a volatile session, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed slightly lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended marginally in positive territory. U.S. Treasury yields fluctuated throughout the day, and gold prices softened.
President Trump and President Xi held a phone call on Thursday aimed at easing ongoing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Both sides confirmed that they agreed to continue discussions—a development that helped calm markets.
“The market seems to be accepting that if they’re talking, they’re not going to do anything drastic,” said Thomas Martin, Senior Portfolio Manager at GLOBALT in Atlanta. “People are just sort of guessing which way the wind is blowing—and it keeps shifting. Investors want to own stocks and fear missing out, but they’re also wary of a potential disaster.”
Economic Data Raises Questions Ahead of Jobs Report
Fresh U.S. economic data painted a mixed picture. Initial jobless claims rose to their highest level since October, and the trade deficit narrowed sharply in April due to a 16.3% drop in imports—largely attributed to the impact of U.S. tariffs.
Meanwhile, labor market indicators showed signs of weakness. Challenger layoffs surged 47% year-over-year, and private payrolls from ADP came in well below expectations. These figures have tempered optimism ahead of the Labor Department’s May employment report, due Friday.
Some analysts, however, see a silver lining in the softer data.
“The recent benign inflation figures and rising jobless claims could give the Federal Reserve room to implement more than one rate cut this year,” said Matthew Keator, Managing Partner at the Keator Group in Lenox, Massachusetts. “That could be encouraging for certain sectors.”
Market Recap
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.89 points, or 0.15%, to 42,491.60
S&P 500 fell 3.56 points, or 0.06%, to 5,967.38
Nasdaq Composite declined 40.84 points, or 0.22%, to 19,419.88
ECB Cuts Rates, Hints at Possible Pause
In Europe, the European Central Bank (ECB) lowered its three key interest rates by 25 basis points, citing a more stable inflation outlook. While the decision was widely expected, ECB President Christine Lagarde suggested the bank may pause its rate-cutting cycle during the summer.
European stocks initially gained following the announcement but pared back those gains by the close.
Pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.16%
FTSEurofirst 300 added 0.19%
MSCI’s global stock index ticked up 0.02% to 889.10
Global Markets Mixed
Emerging markets and Asia-Pacific shares saw modest gains, while Japan’s Nikkei declined.
MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.84% to 1,182.31
Asia-Pacific Index (excluding Japan) climbed 0.82% to 622.95
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.51% to 37,554.49
Currency and Bond Markets
The dollar reversed earlier gains after weaker U.S. data and the ECB’s dovish tone.
Dollar Index inched up 0.02% to 98.81
Euro gained 0.14% to $1.1433
Dollar/Yen rose 0.67% to 143.73
U.S. Treasury yields fluctuated, reflecting market uncertainty ahead of Friday’s labor market data:
10-year yield rose to 4.395%
30-year yield edged down to 4.8856%
2-year yield climbed to 3.928%, indicating shifting expectations for Fed policy
Oil and Gold
Crude prices rose despite bearish inventory data and Saudi Arabia’s price cuts for Asia, as the Trump-Xi call raised hopes for improved trade ties.
U.S. crude settled up 0.83% at $63.37 per barrel
Brent crude rose 0.74% to $65.34 per barrel
Gold reversed earlier gains as easing trade tensions reduced demand for safe-haven assets:
Spot gold fell 0.65% to $3,353.64 an ounce
U.S. gold futures declined 0.72% to $3,349.20 an ounce
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Russia launched a large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy system early on Saturday (7 January), hitting power generation and distribution facilities with more than 400 drones and around 40 missiles, Ukrainian officials have said.
Storm Leonardo hit Spain and Portugal on Tuesday, forcing more than 11,000 people from their homes, as a man in Portugal died after his car was swept away by floodwaters and a second body was found in Malaga.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 7th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators have discussed an ambitious goal of reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine by March, though the timeline is widely viewed as unrealistic due to deep disagreements over territory, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks.
Winter weather has brought air travel in the German capital to a complete halt, stranding thousands of passengers as severe icing conditions make runways and aircraft unsafe for operation and force authorities to shut down one of Europe’s key transport hubs.
Storm Leonardo hit Spain and Portugal on Tuesday, forcing more than 11,000 people from their homes, as a man in Portugal died after his car was swept away by floodwaters and a second body was found in Malaga.
An attacker opened fire at the gates of a Shiite Muslim mosque in Islamabad on Friday before detonating a suicide bomb that killed at least 31 people in the deadliest assault of its kind in the capital in more than a decade.
Ukraine and Russia carried out a rare exchange of 314 prisoners on Thursday as U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi closed with a pledge to resume negotiations soon, offering one of the clearest signs of diplomatic movement in months.
The United States and Iran are set to hold nuclear talks in Oman on Friday after Tehran requested a change of venue and a strictly bilateral, nuclear-focused format, a move that is fuelling questions about Iran’s negotiating strategy.
Uzbekistan is preparing to introduce Islamic banking after the Senate approved legislation creating a legal framework for Sharia-compliant financial services, a move authorities say could broaden financial access and attract new investment into the country’s economy.
Wall Street ended sharply lower on Tuesday as investors worried about artificial intelligence (AI) creating more competition for software makers, keeping them on edge ahead of quarterly reports from Alphabet and Amazon later this week.
U.S. stock markets finished mixed on Wednesday (28 January) as investors reacted calmly after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, a decision that had been widely expected and largely priced in.
The S&P 500 edged to a record closing high on Tuesday, marking its fifth consecutive day of gains, as strong advances in technology stocks offset a sharp selloff in healthcare shares and a mixed batch of corporate earnings.
Chevron is in talks with Iraq’s oil ministry over potential changes to the commercial framework governing the West Qurna 2 oilfield, one of the world’s largest producing assets, after Baghdad nationalised the field earlier this month following U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia’s Lukoil.
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