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Stock Market News: Dow and S&P 500 Hit Closing Highs
The three major indexes had a strong first quarter.
Last Updated:
March 28, 2024 at 7:46 PM EDT
30 days ago
Stocks Hold Steady as First Quarter Comes to a Close
Stocks weren’t going anywhere in the final trading session of the first quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat in Thursday afternoon trading. The S&P 500 was up 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1%. All three were hovering around breakeven for much of the session.
Even the 10-year Treasury yield was mostly flat at 4.195%.
The Russell 2000 was the exception with a gain of 0.9%.
March consumer sentiment and fourth-quarter GDP readings were revised up on Thursday, but markets mostly shrugged. Managers may also be scrambling to reallocate their holdings since U.S. exchanges will close a day early this week for Good Friday. That means Thursday is the end of the quarter for U.S. markets.
The big three indexes were all on track to lock in stellar first-quarter gains, with the Dow on track for its best first quarter since 2021 and the S&P 500 the best since 2019. The Nasdaq will need a major rally to come close to its first quarter of 2023.
"The strength in the market, appearing to be firing on all cylinders, along with a solid job market and a confident, although stretched, consumer bodes well for increasing earnings strength and GDP growth but does lead to uncertainty about the timing and amount of rate cuts by the Fed," writes Navellier & Associates founder Louis Navellier. "But with the momentum we're seeing the reliance on cuts is evolving into more of an insurance policy for disappointments of growth - there if you need it, but better if you don't."