Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Hit Fresh Records for 3rd Straight Day; Oil Retreats Further

Major stock indexes were little changed Thursday, although the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite set fresh all-time highs. Meanwhile, oil futures pulled back further after sinking yesterday on hopes a U.S.-Iran peace deal was near.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and tech-heavy Nasdaq were up 0.2% apiece in early trading, while the benchmark S&P 500 ticked lower after opening higher.

Yesterday, the Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow finished a respective 2%, 1.5%, and 1.2% higher, with the Dow adding more than 600 points and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq setting intraday and closing records for a second straight day.

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude futures pulled back further Thursday after each sank 7% yesterday on optimism a Middle East peace deal was near. WTI futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were down 3.8% to $91.50 a barrel in recent trading, while front-month contracts of Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 3.4% to $97.85.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, slipped to below 4.34% from Wednesday's close above 4.35%.

Gold futures rose 1.2% to $4,750 an ounce. Bitcoin was at $80,900, slightly lower over the past 24 hours. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, ticked 0.2% lower to 97.86.

Shares of the Magnificent Seven tech giants were mixed at the bell after all rose yesterday, led by a nearly 6% advance by Nvidia (NVDA). The world's most valuable company ticked lower Thursday.

In post-earnings moves, Whirlpool (WHR) plunged 15%, Arm Holdings (ARM) fell 3.5%, Snap (SNAP) pulled back 2.5%, Shell (SHEL) declined 2%, Datadog (DDOG) soared 36%, Fortinet (FTNT) jumped 23%, DoorDash (DASH) surged 5%, and McDonald's (MCD) rose 1%.

Datadog Stock Soars 30% Before the Bell on Strong Results, Rosy Outlook

Datadog (DDOG) shares entered the day up less than 6% this year. They look likely to significantly increase gains when markets open.

Shares of Datadog soared more than 30% in premarket trading Thursday after the company—which bills itself as "the leading observability and security platform for the AI era"—reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and issued a rosy outlook.

For the first quarter, the New York-based firm reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.60 on revenue that increased 32% year-over-year to $1.01 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha expected $0.51 and $959.6 million, respectively.

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Datadog sees current-quarter adjusted EPS between $0.57 and $0.59, and revenue between $1.07 billion and $1.08 billion, both well above analysts' estimates. Its full-year projections for those metrics also easily topped expectations.

"Datadog executed to a strong quarter, with 32% year-over-year revenue growth, $335 million in operating cash flow, and $289 million in free cash flow," co-founder and CEO Olivier Pomel said. "We are helping customers of all sizes and industries deploy modern, cloud-based, AI-enabled solutions."

What to Expect From the Jobs Report on Friday

The nonfarm payrolls report will show whether March's burst of job creation was the beginning of a turnaround for the labor market, or just another hill in the roller coaster of economic data that has consistently surprised experts of late.

The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due early Friday, is likely to show U.S. employers added 55,000 jobs in April, down from the unexpectedly high 178,000 jobs created in March, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 4.3%, relatively low by historic standards.

Since last May, the economy has alternately added and lost jobs every month while just about breaking even in the wash, and surprising forecasters with each sudden reversal. Friday's report could shed light on whether the job market is truly bouncing back after a dismal 2025, when tariffs, the crackdown on immigration and uncertainty about trade policy combined to drag job creation to its lowest level outside of a recession in decades.

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“After reassuring job gains in March, Friday’s report will be critical for determining whether those results were an anomaly or the beginning of a stronger trend for the labor market," Michael Linden, senior policy fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a progressive think tank, wrote in a commentary.

Read the full article here.

-Diccon Hyatt

Want to Support GameStop's Bid for eBay? You Can Buy CEO Ryan Cohen's Stuff—On eBay

Ryan Cohen isn't just the guy who wants to merge with eBay. He's also a member.

And he's hoping for your cash. "I’m selling stuff on eBay to pay for eBay," Cohen wrote Wednesday on X just days after GameStop (GME), the retailer he runs, launched an audacious bid for online marketplace eBay (EBAY). His post include a link to an eBay page—the name on the profile is "ryan_5050"—currently showing 36 items for sale.

What are your options? Unsurprisingly, perhaps, they lean toward collectibles: You can bid on, among other things, a set of two GameStop store signs currently going for above $11,000, which have 90 bids; several vintage video games and baseball trading cards; and a black GameStop ballcap and mug, sold separately, each of which currently have bids in the quadruple digits. If you want it all, it will run you above $87,000 at recent prices. (And counting.)

There's an added inducement included with each item: Every one, the listings read, comes with a signed copy of Cohen's proposal to eBay "as a THANK YOU for your support."

Brandon Bell / Getty Images

Some observers have raised questions about the merits of GameStop's offer for eBay, the market value of which is around $46 billion. Though GameStop shares rose today, they're still below where they sat before the company announced its buyout bid.

Read the full article here.

-David Marino-Nachison

The Latest U.S.-Iran News Sent Oil Tumbling. What Does That Mean for Gas Prices?

Oil prices are plummeting again. Don't expect to see that at the gas station tomorrow.

The price of oil tumbled on Wednesday following reports the White House believes it is close to reaching an agreement with Iran that would end the two-month old war and set the stage for nuclear negotiations. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, fell to around $95 a barrel from Tuesday’s high above $105, and were down to around $93 Thursday morning. Brent crude, the global benchmark, traded around $102 a barrel yesterday after climbing above $114 Tuesday, and declined to $99 in recent trading.

Meanwhile, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. ticked up 5 cents on Wednesday to $4.54 a gallon, its highest since July 2022. Only three states—Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma—have average gas prices below $4. Gas prices have risen more than 50% since the start of the war in Iran, driven higher by the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed before the war.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Crude oil is the single largest determinant of gasoline prices, accounting for a little over half of what drivers pay at the pump, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Experts warn that gas prices are likely to stay elevated throughout the summer without sustainably lower oil.

"Consumers may not see meaningful relief for a while," wrote Bank of America economist Stephen Juneau in a note on Wednesday, who thinks gas could stay around $4 throughout the summer.

Read the full article here.

-Colin Laidley

Stock Futures Little Changed After S&P 500, Nasdaq Set New Records

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were fractionally higher.

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S&P 500 futures pointed up 0.1%.

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Nasdaq 100 futures ticked higher.

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