U.S. stocks were notably mixed on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closing in negative territory. Both key indexes posted strong gains the day before after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank was considering a smaller rate hike this month following four consecutive raises of three-quarter points each.
Thursday included the latest data on consumer spending, which rose 0.8% in October and outpaced inflation growth. Oil prices also jumped, with the key WTI crude benchmark rising nearly 1% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the European Commission has asked the bloc’s 27 member states to approve a price cap on Russian oil of $60 a barrel. Heard's Carol Ryan cautions that the move is not without risk of blowback from Russia.
The Dow closed down 195 points, or 0.6%, at 34,395. The S&P 500 closed down 0.09%.
Tech stocks were a notable exception to the downward market sentiment. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day up 0.1% with especially strong gains in cloud software. Sector leader Salesforce had a poor showing, falling 8%. Heard's Dan Gallagher noted the company's surprise leadership change comes just as it faces its lowest growth prospects ever. But cloud players Okta, Snowflake, Splunk and Box made strong gains following their respective quarterly reports, helping to send the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index up nearly 3% by the closing bell.
Netflix shares also jumped nearly 4% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is expanding its preview program to give more of its subscribers a look at pre-release content. The previews help the company make necessary changes to movies and shows if audiences don't respond well.
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