Wall Street took a bit of a breather after Wednesday's surge, though the major indexes all posted more modest gains:
- The S&P 500 rose 12 points, or 0.2%, to 4,719.
- The Dow rose 158 points, or 0.4%, to 37,248. (That's another record high.)
- The Nasdaq rose 27 points, or 0.1%, to 14,761.
Of note Thursday: Moderna jumped 9.2% after it reported encouraging data from a study of its treatment for high-risk melanoma that's used with Merck's Keytruda, per the AP. That helped offset a 6.6% slump for Adobe, which gave a forecast for 2024 revenue that fell short of analysts' expectations. Treasury yields sank further in the bond market as traders bet on a series of cuts to US interest rates coming in 2024. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.92% from 4.03% late Wednesday. It was above 5% in October, at its highest level since 2007, and the sharp drop since then has given the stock market a big boost.
Owners of office parks, hotels and other real estate, which benefit from lower interest rates, were some of Thursday's bigger winners. Real-estate stocks rose 2.6% for one of the biggest gains among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500 index, including a 7.2% jump for Boston Properties. Banks were also strong. High interest rates have hurt the industry's players a rung or two in size below the behemoth banks and helped cause three high-profile collapses earlier this year. Lower interest rates could ease the pressure, and Comerica and Zions Bancorp. both jumped more than 8.5%.
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