It's Nasdaq's Turn to Post a Record High

Wall Street closed out another winning month with more gains on Thursday:

• The S&P 500 rose 27 points, or 0.5%, to 5,097.
• The Dow rose 14 points, or 0.04%, to 38,963.
• The Nasdaq rose 134 points, or 0.8%, to a record-high 16,082.
• For the month, the Nasdaq rose a bit over 5%, the benchmark S&P a bit below 5%, and the Dow nearly 2%, per CNBC. The Dow now has its first four-month win streak since May 2021.

In the bond market, yields eased after a closely followed inflation report showed prices across the country rose pretty much as expected last month, per the AP. That calmed worries on Wall Street that the inflation data would show a discomforting reacceleration. Meanwhile, Salesforce.com became one of the latest companies to report better profit for the latest quarter than expected, and its stock was 2.3% higher. Best Buy gained 1.3% after it reported better profit and revenue than expected. Hormel Foods likewise reported stronger profit and revenue than expected, citing broad-based growth across its brands, including Skippy peanut better, Chi-Chi's salsa, and Corn Nuts snacks. Its stock leaped 13.2%.

They helped offset a 4.5% drop for Bath & Body Works. The seller of fragrances, body lotion, and three-wick candles reported better profit than expected, helped by a strong holiday season, but it said sales may weaken this upcoming year. Even though it nearly doubled analysts' fourth-quarter profit projections, the cloud-computing company Snowflake tumbled 18.6% after a surprise announcement that CEO Frank Slootman was retiring effective immediately. Slootman will be replaced by Sridhar Ramaswamy. Chemours tumbled 34.9% after it put three top executives, including its CEO, on administrative leave while the audit committee of its board conducts a review.

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