By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Dow Jones industrial average crossed the 40,000 level on Thursday for the first time and a world stock index scored a third straight record intraday high as stocks continued to rise on U.S. interest rate cut hopes and strong earnings.
Data on Wednesday showed cooling consumer price inflation, although that was offset on Thursday by news that U.S. jobless claims fell in the latest week and by figures showing U.S. import prices increased 0.9% last month.
That data boosted U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar but failed to knock the stock market.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also hit record highs in early New York trading.
Shares of Walmart jumped 6.2% after the retail giant raised its fiscal 2025 sales and profit forecast.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108.75 points, or 0.27%, to 40,016.75, the S&P 500 gained 10.91 points, or 0.21%, to 5,319.06 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 32.16 points, or 0.19%, to 16,774.55.
“What (the Dow hitting 40,000) means is that regardless of the concerns about inflation and consumer sentiment, the companies in the Dow, which represent a cross section of our economy, continue to March higher on better earnings and stronger guidance,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.37 points, or 0.30%, to 796.14. The STOXX 600 index fell 0.24%.
Overnight in Asia, Chinese and Hong Kong property shares had rallied as well after reports that Beijing was considering a plan for local governments to buy up millions of unsold homes across the country. [.SS]
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, gained 0.23% to 104.44, with the euro down 0.11% at $1.087.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.22% to 155.21.
Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 in the latest week, indicating a still-strong labor market.
Benchmark 10-year yields were last up 1 basis point at 4.369%, after earlier falling to 4.313%, the lowest since April 5. They are now trading back above the 200-day moving average of 4.331%, after briefly trading below it.
U.S. crude gained 0.7% to $79.18 a barrel and Brent rose to $83.17 per barrel, up 0.51% on the day.
Spot gold lost 0.52% to $2,373.74 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Susan Fenton)
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