US stocks mixed after jobless claims data, Nvidia results; Alphabet has weight

Wall Street’s major stock indexes were mixed in choppy trading Thursday as Alphabet weighed on the market, while investors also focused on upbeat quarterly results and forecasts from AI-heavyweight Nvidia.

Alphabet fell 4% after the Justice Department argued to a judge that Google should sell its Chrome browser and take other steps to end its monopoly on online search.

It weighed on the communication services sector, which fell 2.2%.

Megacaps such as Meta Platforms fell 1.1%, Amazon.com 1.1% and Apple 0.6%.

On the other hand, Wall Street’s biggest company, Nvidia, rose 1.3% to a record high after quarterly results beat expectations, and fourth-quarter revenue beat estimates.

Shares fell earlier in premarket trading as some investors were unimpressed that the forecast was its slowest in seven quarters.

“Nvidia had a fantastic quarter … but it’s been overshadowed by expectations. Big expectations are tied to the stock and the rate Nvidia is running,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Relay Wealth.

Other chip stocks were mixed while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index was up 0.8%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 74.01 points, or 0.14%, at 43,469.95, the S&P 500 was up 1.19 points, or 0.02%, at 5,917.46 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 621%, or 627 points, at 9:48 a.m. 18,942.48.

Nvidia has led the US market rally since mid-2023 on expectations that AI integration could boost corporate profits. The stock has risen more than ninefold in the past two years and the company has a market value of $3.5 trillion.

On that day, all three indices briefly touched their highest levels in nearly a week.

On the data front, the weekly report on jobless claims showed they unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting a rebound in job growth in November.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch, money market bets are tied amid expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its December meeting or if it continues.

“The employment picture is a bit stronger and one might think that will give the Fed another reason to pause in December or slow things down in 2025,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

Investors also watched for rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said the United States is more vulnerable to inflationary shocks than in the past, according to a media report.

Comments from Federal Reserve officials Austin Goolsby and Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr are on tape.

Shares of Deere rose 5.1% after the farm equipment maker beat Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit, while Snowflake forecast its annual manufacturing revenue.

Crypto stocks such as MARA Holdings rose 11.6% and MicroStrategy 10.9% as bitcoin prices rose to around $100,000 for the first time.

Leading issues outperformed decliners by a 2.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.5-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite hit 61 new highs and 54 new lows.