Stock market live Thursday: Stocks post modest gains, home sales jump, tech turnaround?

• Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.2% for its second positive day in three
• Dow is down 3.04% this week, on pace for its fourth straight negative week for the first time since Aug. 2019, and its worst week since June
• The S&P 500 closed up 0.30%
• S&P is down 2.2% this week, on pace for its fourth straight negative week for the first time since Aug. 2019
• Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.37% for its second positive day in three
• Nasdaq is down 1.12% this week, on pace for its fourth straight negative week for the first time since Aug. 2019
• Ten out of 11 S&P sectors were positive, led by utilities. Health care was the only negative sector. - Gina Francolla

Stocks ended Thursday's session in the green, after seesawing between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow rose 52 points, for a gain of 0.20%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished the session 0.3% and 0.37% higher, respectively. - Pippa Stevens

Thursday's choppy trading dragged the three major indexes back into negative territory as tech stocks stumbled. The Dow fell to a loss of 60 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down roughly 0.2%. Shares of Amazon, Facebook and Netflix were all slightly negative. — Jesse Pound

The major averages were on pace to post slight gains with one hour left in the session as traders weighed mixed U.S. economic data. The Dow, which was up more than 300 points earlier, traded just 26 points higher. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite traded 0.3% higher. —Fred Imbert

Amazon announced a number of new products during its online hardware event on Thursday. The tech giant unveiled two new Fire TV products, as well as all-new Amazon Echo devices, among other things.

Read more about all of the product launches here. - Pippa Stevens

House Democrats are putting together a scaled-back aid package, which they plan to vote on in the next week, according to three sources. According to one of the people familiar with the matter, the total cost is $2.4 trillion, which is above what the Republicans and White House have previously said they would agree to. - Ylan Mui

Nikola — Shares of the electric truck maker fell sharply on increasing concerns about the company's growth. The uproar surrounding a severely critical short-seller report and the resignation of Nikola's founder makes the stock too risky to own, according to Wedbush, which downgraded the stock to underperform on Thursday. The author of the Hindenburg report, Nathan Anderson, told The Wall Street Journal more bad news is coming for Nikola and "the story is definitely not over."

Darden Restaurants — Shares of the restaurant chain climbed after the parent company of Olive Garden beat earnings expectations for its fiscal first quarter. Darden generated 28 cents in adjusted earnings per share, while analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected 5 cents. Revenue did miss expectations slightly, however, as the pandemic caused a decline in sales. Darden also reinstated its dividend. 

Goldman Sachs — The bank stock rose after UBS upgraded Goldman Sachs to buy from neutral. The firm said in a note that potential volatility around the election, which would boost Goldman's trading revenue, could be a near-term tailwind for the stock.

Read more movers here. — Jesse Pound

The major averages were higher around midday as traders weighed the latest batch of economic data along with strong gains from tech. The Dow — which was briefly down more than 200 points — traded 24 points higher, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.4%. —Fred Imbert

A number of companies have recently announced plans to reinstate dividends and resume buyback programs after many of these programs were halted earlier in the year due to uncertainty around Covid-19. Some of the names include: Darden Restaurants, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dollar General, Dunkin' Brands, Foot Locker, Johnson Controls, Kimberly Clark and Lululemon. - Robert Hum, Pippa Stevens

In Wednesday's volatile session, the S&P 500 fell below Monday's low, and it could now be heading even lower to possibly test the 200-day moving average, at 3,105.85.

The S&P fell 2.4% to 3,236 Wednesday. Traders are now watching to see whether the S&P can recover 3,229, the low from Monday. If it cannot, it would be a signal that the 200-day moving average could be in play. "3,229 will be key tomorrow," said T3Live.com's Scott Redler on Wednesday, who follows short-term technicals.

So far, the broader market index has alternated between gains and losses Thursday. Wednesday's "failure at 3,323 kept the active bears in control. They've been in control since the Sept. 3 break of the accelerated trend," he noted.

The S&P 500 is now down 9% from its high, and strategists have been expecting the index to reach the 200-day level, about a 14% decline. The 200-day is literally the average of the closing prices over the last 200 days. It is a widely watched momentum indicator that would be negative if the S&P falls and stays below it, but it typically serves as a level of support. —Patti Domm

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Senate lawmakers on Thursday that he thinks it's likely that Congress will have to approve more fiscal stimulus to support the U.S. economy.

Asked by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, if he thinks Congress should pass another bill on the stimulus efforts they agree on, Powell said he thought that was a good idea. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that there is significant bipartisan support for some programs that support U.S. workers like the Paycheck Protection Program and fiscal infusions to select industries hardest hit by the pandemic.

"I do think it's likely additional fiscal support will be needed," Powell told Crapo. "I think that these are great areas to be looking at." — Thomas Franck

U.S. new home sales jumped 4.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.011 million. according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau Thursday. The reading is better than a Dow Jones estimate of 890,000, or a decline of 1.2%.The median sales price of new houses sold in August 2020 was $312,800, down 4.2% from $327,000 from the same month a year ago. Stocks erased losses and traded higher on the day following the data release. The Dow last traded up 50 points.— Yun Li

After opening in the red, shares of megacap technology stocks recovered to trade in positive territory shortly after the opening bell on Thursday. Shares of Apple and Alphabet rose more than 1% a piece. Microsoft and Amazon ticked 1.2% and 1.5% higher, respectively. Facebook and Netflix rose slightly. — Maggie Fitzgerald 

Shares of electric vehicle names came under pressure on Thursday. Nikola fell 20% amid ongoing tumult at the company, which saw founder and executive chairman Trevor Milton announce his resignation on Monday. Tesla, meanwhile, declined 5%. Shares of Nio and Workhorse Group slid 5% and 7%, respectively. - Pippa Stevens

• MKM initiated Chevron as buy.
• Wedbush downgraded Nikola to underperform from neutral.
• Baird named Wells Fargo a fresh pick.
• UBS upgraded Goldman Sachs to buy from neutral.
• Stifel upgraded FedEx to buy from hold.
• Baird upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond to outperform from neutral.
• Macquarie downgraded Penn National Gaming to neutral from outperform.
• Macquarie initiated DraftKings as outperform.
• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Alphabet to $1,800 from $1,760.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Square to outperform from perform.
• Needham initiated Tencent Music Entertainment as buy.

Pro Subscribers can read more here- Michael Bloom

Wall Street's September sell-off deepened on Thursday after disappointing jobless claims data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 80 at the open, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. So far, September is living up to its reputation as a tough month for stocks as the major averages are all poised to post sharp losses. With Thursday's losses, the S&P 500 also turned negative for the year, down about 0.3%.— Yun Li

Shares of Apple, a Dow component and a major influence in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, was falling nearly 2% in Thursday's premarket trading. The stock sank nearly 4.2% on Wednesday to bear market territory, down more than 20% from its Sept. 1 all-time high close. — Matthew Belvedere

Continuing claims, which include those receiving unemployment benefits for at least two straight weeks, decreased by 167,000 to 12.58 million during the week ending Sept. 12. Despite the recent improvement, continuing claims are still elevated historically and much higher compared to previous recessions, according to weekly data going back to 1967. — Yun Li, Nate Rattner

Evercore ISI strategist Dennis DeBusschere believes the weakness in the economic data could have a more negative impact on stocks without the further fiscal support. 

"Claims, arguable the most important high frequency data point currently, missed expectations and moved up WoW,"  DeBusschere, said in a note Thursday. "With the Fed diminishing its own credibility by continually emphasizing the ineffectiveness of monetary policy and begging for fiscal support, weaker data will have a big impact on risk assets. Especially if the fiscal cliff starts to bite, which some indicators suggests might be starting."

Lawmakers are still struggling to move forward with a new stimulus package, which has weighed on sentiment on Wall Street.— Yun Li

Shares of E.W. Scripps rocketed more than 44% higher in premarket trading after the company announced that it would acquire Ion Media in a $2.65 billion deal, with $600 million of financing coming from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire will receive preferred shares in Scripps in return for the financing. The deal gives Scripps a national television presence. — Jesse Pound

There were 870,000 initial unemployment claims last week, according to the Labor Department, topping the 850,000 claims expected by economists, according to Dow Jones. That is 4,000 claims higher than the revised reading for the previous week. Continuing claims came in at 12.58 million, down 167,000 from the previous level. — Jesse Pound 

The controversy surrounding the short-seller report and the loss of the company's founder makes Nikola too risky a stock to own for now, according to Wedbush. The Wall Street firm downgraded shares of the electric truck maker to underperform from neutral. Wedbush also slashed its 12-month price target on the stock to $15 per share from $45 per share. "While we have watched this name from the sidelines given our caution on the execution front, we now believe the downside risks outweigh any positives for the stock," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told clients. Shares of Nikola dropped nearly 10% in premarket trading on Thursday. — Maggie Fitzgerald 

Treasury yields have stayed in a tight range, even as the S&P 500 lost 9% this month amid some pretty volatile trading.

The 10-year yield was at 0.66% in early trading Thursday. We saw it around that level Wednesday too. Jon Hill, senior fixed income strategist at BMO, says the market is listening to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's commitment to lower rates for longer. He says the 10-year yield's narrow range is the result of a "tug of war" between "labor market improvement and pandemic reality."

Peter Boockvar of Bleakley Advisory Group, commented this morning on the lack of action in the Treasury market, and notes why some investors are giving the bond market the cold shoulder.

"To highlight again the new world we're in, and I'm talking solely here about the relationship between stocks and bonds, on September 2nd, the day before the stock market correction began, the 10 yr yield was .65%. Yesterday with the S&P 500 down 10% from its peak it closed at .67%. The Treasury market remains a port in the storm but only from a capital preservation standpoint. It is no longer a money maker when the equity market goes through an aggressive bout of selling. A new world for the 60-40 model," he wrote.— Patti Domm 

Economists at Goldman Sachs cut their U.S. fourth-quarter GDP forecast to annualized growth of 3% from 6%, citing a lack of further fiscal stimulus. 

"We think it is now clear that Congress will not attach additional fiscal stimulus to the continuing resolution," Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note. "This implies that after a final round of extra unemployment benefits that is currently being disbursed, any further fiscal support will likely have to wait until 2021."

Lawmakers have struggled for months to reach a deal on a new stimulus package before the election. The prospects of an agreement being reached further decreased as the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sets up a potentially bitter confirmation process for her seat. —Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would not commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the 2020 election to Democratic nominee and former vice president Joe Biden.

"Well, we'll have to see what happens. You know that. I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots. And the ballots are a disaster," Trump said at a news conference at the White House. Trump was referring to mail-in ballots, which he has repeatedly condemned, without evidence, as susceptible to massive fraud.

Also on Wednesday, Trump said the White House could overrule the FDA's guidelines on more stringent standards for the approval of a Covid-19 vaccine. 

"We're looking at that and that has to be approved by the White House. We may or may not approve it," the President said of the new FDA guidelines. "That sounds like a political move." —Kevin Breuninger, Maggie Fitzgerald 

Shares of Penn National Gaming dropped more than 6% in premarket trading after the company announced a plan to sell 14 million additional shares. Penn said in a release that it would use the cash raised in the deal for general corporate purposes. Macqaurie also downgraded the stock to neutral from outperform, citing a "stretched valuation" and Penn's leverage. — Jesse Pound

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that lawmakers should approve another round of stimulus to help those still impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. "How fast do you want the recovery to take place?" Moynihan told CNBC's Becky Quick Thursday in a Squawk Box interview. "People are suffering, we need to help them."

Moynihan added that consumer credit has been "amazingly solid" so far and customers with smaller checking accounts still had more money now than before the crisis, thanks to the previous stimulus and changed spending patterns." Another round of stimulus would be appropriate, but much more narrowly defined than in the past because the broad-based economy has come back, 92% of people are employed," Moynihan said. "It has to be aimed at the people still unemployed," he said. "It has to be aimed at performance venues and restaurants. Another round of PPP would be helpful to help those restaurants."— Hugh Son

Selling in Tesla continued in premarket trading on Thursday with shares shedding another 2%. The stock has tumbled nearly 14% this week through Wednesday's close. The declines were triggered by the electric car-maker's highly anticipated "Battery Day," which detailed a multiyear timeline for the technical improvements. However, the lack of concrete near-term goals disappointed many Wall Street analysts and investors. — Yun Li

Futures tied to U.S. major equity averages were little changed on Thursday as investors await the latest jobless claims data, which is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.  Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped about 15 points, while S&P 500 futures were 0.1% lower. Nasdaq 100 futures fell about 0.4%. The market is poised to post steep losses for September, a typically weak period for stocks. The S&P 500 has declined 7.5%, while the Dow has shed 5.8%. The Nasdaq Composite has lost 9.7% as investors rotate out of Big Tech. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet and Microsoft are all down at least 11% this month. — Yun Li