Stocks tread water with Dow poised for another bid for 40,000

US stocks regrouped Friday as Wall Street set up another bid to reach bullish milestones as investors dithered over the odds for rate cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) held steady on the heels of touching the key 40,000 level for the first time during Thursday’s trading. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also gained 0.1%, with all the gauges on track for weekly wins.

The run-up in stocks hit a bump in the wake of comments from Fed officials warning that rates are likely to stay at historic highs for a while. That dampened enthusiasm for the likelihood of a September cut that had been lifted by encouraging inflation data.

Friday’s light economic and corporate calendar leaves few jumping-off points for the Dow to make another go at crossing its key juncture, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have their own fresh records within reach.

That puts the spotlight on appearances by the Fed’s Mary Daly and Christopher Waller on Friday. The market will listen for any deviation from their colleagues’ message that the Fed will follow the data and wait for clear signs of cooling inflation before making a move.

In individual movers, Reddit (RDDT) shares jumped 15% after the open, not far off its highest close of $65.11 hit in March. The social media platform has signed a partnership with OpenAI that will see ChatGPT integrate content from its forums.

Meanwhile, GameStop (GME) shares sank over 20% after the games retailer said it expects first-quarter sales to drop as shoppers shift to online outlets. Shares in the meme stock soared at the start of the week in an echo of the 2021 frenzy, but the rally has turned into a slide in recent days.

Live3 updates

Fri, May 17, 2024 at 7:15 AM PDT

Stocks trending in morning trading

Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during morning trading on Friday.

GameStop (GME): Shares of the video game retailer sank more than 25% on Friday morning after the company filed to sell 45 million new shares of common stock and released preliminary financial results that revealed sales fell sharply from the year prior in its most recent quarter.

Reddit (RDDT): The forum based social network gained more than 14% during morning trading following news of a partnership with OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind the popular ChatGPT. As part of the deal, OpenAI will become an advertising partner for Reddit and will give Reddit the ability to use OpenAI’s technology to build tools and features. In turn, ChatGPT will integrate Reddit’s content into its system.

Robinhood (HOOD): The financial services company popular with retail stock traders rose 6% Friday morning following a double upgrade from Bank of America, from Underperform to Buy. Analysts pointed to rebounding retail engagement and a broader trend towards mobile trading that the young company stands to benefit from.

Cracker Barrel (CBRL): Shares of the restaurant chain fell by nearly 15% after the company cut its dividend plans by nearly 80%. The announcement comes as the Southern themed eatery and gift store switches its focus to upgrading its brand and physical locations.
Fri, May 17, 2024 at 6:33 AM PDT

Stocks little changed as Dow reaches for 40,000

The major indexes did’t move much at the open Friday, as Wall Street was poised for the Dow to make another attempt at surpassing a key milestone of 40,000.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) held steady on the heels of touching the level for the first time during Thursday’s trading. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also gained 0.1%, with all the gauges on track for positive ends to the week.
Fri, May 17, 2024 at 3:30 AM PDT

Reddit pops pre-market on OpenAI deal

Reddit (RDDT) is up 14% pre-market on a new deal with OpenAI whereby OpenAI will gain access to Reddit’s data to help build out its models.

This deal shouldn’t come as a surprise to Reddit investors — the company recently struck a similar deal with Alphabet (GOOGL). Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman told me last week more deals like this are likely as part of the platform’s reinvention.

Look for a new user interface later this year.

Full watch below.