S&P 500 closes little changed Thursday after hotter-than-anticipated inflation report: Live updates

Stocks were little changed on Thursday, as investors assessed December's hotter-than-expected consumer price index report released earlier in the day. Here's how the major indexes closed up:

• The S&P 500 lost 0.07% to end at 4,780.24.
• The Nasdaq Composite was flat, settling at 14,970.19.
• The Dow Jones industrial Average added 15.29 points, or 0.04%, to close at 37,711.02.

— Pia Singh

The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it has opened a probe on Boeing after a panel on the side of one of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes blew off midflight on Saturday.

The investigation will dig into whether Boeing "failed to ensure completed products conformed to its approved design and were in a condition for safe operation in compliance with FAA regulations," the FAA said.

Shares of Boeing slipped nearly 2% in midday trading.

— Leslie Josephs, Michelle Fox

Steven McClurg, CIO at Valkyrie Investments, said that the volatile trading in bitcoin on Thursday seemed to be reasonable trading activity rather than a sign that the new ETFs were putting stress on the crypto market.

"The price movement was actually fairly close to what I expected. ... I was expecting price to hit or exceed $48,000, which it did, and then it came in quite nicely. There's always people that are going to sell when there's any kind of uptick in price like that," McClurg said.

McClurg also said that trading of the ETFs has so far gone more smoothly so far, even given some of the complexities of bitcoin.

"There was a lot more volume in the beginning of the day, and it seems like it's leveling out. That is typical of these types of launches," McClurg said.

— Jesse Pound

Bitcoin miners gave back earlier gains as the price of the cryptocurrency retreated in volatile trading, after the Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of the first U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, which hit the market Thursday.

The two biggest mining stocks, Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms each lost more than 15%. Wall Street favorites Iris Energy and CleanSpark fell 9% and 7%, respectively. Investors were taking profits after the price of bitcoin briefly spiked to above $49,000 for the first time since December 2021. It has pulled back since to the $46,000 level.

Miners were some of the biggest gainers in the stock market in 2023. Marathon finished this year higher by almost 590%, while Riot rose more than 350%. CleanSpark and Iris Energy posted gains of more than 400%.  

— Tanaya Macheel

Small-cap stocks took a hit on Thursday during what was otherwise a muted session.

The small-cap focused Russell 2000 slipped about 1% in Thursday afternoon trading. Meanwhile, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all traded around their respective flatlines.

— Alex Harring

While the newly launched bitcoin ETF funds have certainly taken the spotlight, Wall Street analysts are also considering their impact on existing companies such as crypto exchange platform Coinbase.

"We see the impact of a Bitcoin ETF as having both positive and risky elements for Coinbase, but given the appreciation of Coinbase's stock price, we see the risks as more relevant to shareholders," wrote JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington.

Wedbush reiterated its outperform rating on the stock and sees Coinbase rallying 19% from here.

On the other hand, Mizuho stood by its underperform rating, believing that the new ETFs could cannibalize Coinbase's existing trading trading margins. Analyst Dan Dolev forecasts that the stock could dip 64%.

CNBC Pro readers can find the full story here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Oil prices settled higher on Thursday after Iran seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, renewing fears that Middle East tensions would disrupt crude supplies.

The West Texas Intermediate futures contract for February rose 65 cents, or .91%, to settle at $72.02 a barrel. The Brent futures contract for March gained 61 cents, or .79%, to settle at $77.41 a barrel.

U.S. crude and the global benchmark both rose more than $2 earlier in the trading session, but pulled back after data showed inflation increased more than expected in December.

— Spencer Kimball

Opening the door for bitcoin spot ETFs is a "monumental" development for the cryptocurrency but is still a long way from its proponents goals, economist Mohamed El-Erian said Thursday.

"This is really important as an investment, but let's not get carried away," the chief economic advisor for Allianz said during a CNBC "Squawk Box" interview. "The global currency objective that some people have is still as far ahead of them as it was before."

El-Erian said the SEC's decision to approve the bitcoin ETFs does accomplish three important goals: broadening participation in crypto for investors, helping to "provide legitimacy" following multiple scandals, and giving "cover" for other regulators to approve similar moves.

Still, he said, "you will find regulators much more hesitant to allow crypto to evolve into a global currency, and there's lots of reasons for that."

—Jeff Cox

Optimism about the the immediate outlook for stocks over the next six months stayed at an "unusually high level" once again in the latest weekly poll by the American Association of Individual Investors.

Bullishness was unchanged at 48.6% of investors in the week through Wednesday, above its historical average of 37.5% for a 10th straight week and the 11th time in 14 weeks.

Bearishness about stock prices rose slightly, to 24.2% from 23.5% last week, but still means that pessimism is below its historical average of 31% for a 10th consecutive week.

All this optimism and lack of pessimism is bad news for contrarian investors who try and go against the crowd rather than with it. Typically, contrarians interpret high levels of bullishness as meaning most of the buying in the market is done and there's less cash on the sidelines to put into the market.

— Scott Schnipper

A handful of major bank stocks slipped in Thursday trading as investors readied for their earnings reports expected Friday before the bell.

Citi led the group lower with a slide of more than 2.5%. Bank of America fell around 2%, while JPMorgan dropped 1.2%. Wells Fargo shed 0.7%.

— Alex Harring

Shares for Coinbase and Robinhood slid about 7% and 3%, respectively, as traders deliberated how the approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds could weigh on the crypto trading platforms.

— Fred Imbert

These are the stocks moving the most in midday trading:

• Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery — The entertainment companies respectively lost 5.5% and 4.2% following downgrades from Redburn Atlantic. Analyst Hamilton Faber downgraded Paramount to a sell rating, citing "material downside," while he justified his downgrade of Warner Bros. Discovery to neutral with a "negative tipping point" in advertising.
• Lyft — Lyft shares fell 3% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the ridesharing company to neutral from buy, citing a more balanced risk-reward.
• Albemarle — The chemicals manufacturer dropped 3% following a downgrade from Deutsche Bank to a hold rating.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Tech giants Alphabet and Amazon were among the 31 stocks in the S&P 500 that hit 52-week highs on Thursday.

Of those 31 names, 21 reached all-time highs. Microsoft was among those, trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in March 1986, as was Nvidia, which hit levels not seen since it went public in January 1999.

Here are some other stocks that hit the milestone on Thursday:

• Marriott International, trading at all-time high levels back through its spin-off from Marriott Corp in 1993.
• Eli Lilly, trading at all-time high levels back to 1952 when the company offered its first public shares of stock.
• Stryker, trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in 1979.
• Howmet Aerospace, trading at all-time highs back to its Alcoa spinoff in Nov., 2016
• Arista Networks, trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in June, 2014

— Chris Hayes, Michelle Fox

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood said the approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. made her more convinced that the world's largest cryptocurrency could hit her wildly bullish target.

For her bull case, the ARK Invest chief sees bitcoin hitting $1.5 million by 2030. Her base case is in the $600,000 range, she said.

"We think the probability of the bull case has increased with this SEC approval. This is a green light," Wood said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Thursday. "It is the first global decentralized digital rules based ... monetary system in history. It is a very big idea."

— Yun Li

Slightly hotter than expected inflation data from December is unlikely to knock the Federal Reserve off course from cutting interest rates later this year, economist Paul McCulley said Thursday.

Even with the consumer price index showing that that inflation rose 3.4% from a year ago, McCulley contended that the Fed's policy "pivot is unambiguously in."

"The next move is a cut, and it's going to be a series of cuts to take us back to neutral. That's the theme the market is working on. I think it's the right theme and the day's data doesn't change that really at all," McCulley said during an interview on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

Nevertheless, stocks fell following the inflation news.

"It's noisy in the data, it's noisy in the market, but we're fundamentally in a soft landing with a pivot already in rhetorically and we're just waiting for it come in reality, timing, pace and magnitude," McCulley added.

—Jeff Cox

Shares of Coinbase and Robinhood were lower Thursday as traders weigh how the approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. could weigh on the crypto trading platforms.

Coinbase and Robinhood were both down more than 1% in early trading. They started the session trading higher.

— Fred Imbert

With 11 bitcoin ETFs set to begin trading on Thursday, competition is heavy and could eventually divide into a group of distinct winners and losers.

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he doesn't think all of the new ETFs will prove successful.

"There will be some consolidation. You will see some of these products either peter out, or you will see that a couple of them enough significant enough [assets] to still have assets," Sonnenshein said.

The consolidation could take theoretically take the form of less successful funds closing, being sold to larger funds, or the asset managers combining forces.

"Anything is possible," Sonnenshein said, including potentially buying other asset managers or selling Grayscale.

— Jesse Pound

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% at the open, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 93 points, or nearly 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.4%.

— Pia Singh

Oil prices jumped Thursday after an oil tanker was hijacked by armed individuals near the Gulf of Oman.

The West Texas Intermediate futures contract for February gained $1.38, or 1.93%, to trade at $72.85. The Brent futures contract for March jumped 1.94% to trade at $78.29 a barrel.

The oil tanker St. Nikolas was boarded by four to five armed individuals Thursday and changed course toward Iranian waters. The vessel was heading to the Turkish port Aliaga after loading crude at Iraq's Basrah Oil Terminal.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on commercial vessels in the Middle East in the wake of the devastating war in Gaza. Houthi militants in Yemen have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea, forcing ocean carriers to reroute trade around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

— Spencer Kimball

The new bitcoin ETFs come at a wide range of price points, with long-term management fees ranging from 0.20% for Bitwise to 1.5% for Grayscale.

Several of the funds are also offering temporary waivers that will bring the fee to 0% in the short-term.

The lowest priced funds situate bitcoin ETFs as more expensive than the most popular equity funds, but cheaper than major commodity funds.

Take a look at the full fee list here.

— Jesse Pound

Inflation rose at a greater-than-expected pace in December.

The consumer price index increased by 0.3% last month from November. Year over year, CPI was up 3.4%. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected CPI to have risen 0.2% month over month in December and 3.2% year over year.

However, So-called core CPI, which strips out food and energy prices, was in line pointing to a possible easing of pricing pressures.

— Fred Imbert

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.

• Citigroup — Shares fell 1% after the bank warned investors on Wednesday night of a possible quarterly loss due to the decline of the Argentine peso and restructuring charges. Citigroup is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter results Friday morning. 
• Lyft — Shares declined more than 1% after Goldman Sachs downgraded Lyft to neutral from buy. While the firm forecasts a reacceleration in revenue and ride-volume growth, it said such an inflection is already reflected in estimates. 
• Occidental Petroleum — Shares gained 1.1% after a Berkshire Hathaway filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed that the firm owns 34% of Occidental. The oil company also pre-reported lesser-than-expected production levels in the Gulf of Mexico compared to prior guidance. Nonetheless, the company is on track to stay with its guidance range.

For the full list, read here.

— Hakyung Kim

December's consumer price index reading can help traders realize they may be expecting interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve too early, said Julien Lafargue, chief market strategist at Barclays Private Bank.

"Markets remain too aggressive around interest rate cuts expectations," Lafargue said. "While an upside surprise to the December CPI may not be enough to change this perception it could be a first step in allowing markets to align with the Fed's narrative that cuts will come but not just yet."

The key inflation report is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast a 0.2% rise from November and 3.2% gain on an annual basis. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, economists expect so-called core CPI to climb 0.3% from the prior month and 3.8% year over year.

It comes as investors have grown increasingly hopeful that the Fed will begin cutting interest rates later this year.

— Alex Harring

Citigroup shares were down more than 1% after the bank warned of charges tied to the drop in the Argentine peso, along with the company's reorganization, were greater than expected.

The bank said fourth-quarter results were hurt by $880 million in currency conversion losses from Argentina's currency and another $780 million from Citigroup's restructuring moves.

— Fred Imbert, Hugh Son

Shares of KB Home fell more than 2% after the homebuilder posted its fourth-quarter results.

The company earned $1.85 per share on revenue of $1.67 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of $1.69 per share on revenue of $1.62 billion. However, the average selling price for KB Home fell 4.5% to $487,300 during the quarter.

— Fred Imbert

Australia's imports dropped 7.9% in November 2023, trade data showed.

Goods imports fell by 2,988 million Aussie dollars, led by non-industrial transport equipment, while exports rose AU$789 million or 1.7%, driven by shipments of coal, coke and briquettes.

Imports declined more sharply than the 2.9% fall expected by a Reuters poll, while exports growth topped expectations of a 0.8% rise.

Exports also hit an eight month high in November.

Australia's  S&P/ASX 200 index had gained 0.50% by the last hour of trading.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

The Bank of Korea left its benchmark lending rate unchanged for the eighth time in a row Thursday.

South Korea's central bank held rates at 3.50%, in line with expectations of economists polled by Reuters. Investors now await Governor Rhee Chang-yong's news conference at around 1110 Korea time.

The country's inflation has shown signs of easing, with consumer price growth coming in at 3.2% last month.

The BOK is targeting to bring inflation down to 2% by end 2024 or early 2025.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Bitcoin mining stocks surged in after-hours trading Wednesday after the Securities and Exchange Commission gave the green light for spot bitcoin ETFs to begin trading in the U.S.

The price of bitcoin itself wavered over the flat line following the decision, but mining stocks — which typically benefit from increases in the bitcoin price and reflect longer-term investor sentiment toward bitcoin — got a big boost.

Wall Street favorites Iris Energy and CleanSpark each jumped 8% after hours, while Marathon Digital gained 6% and Riot Platforms added more than 4% each.

Elsewhere, Coinbase, which is the custody partner to several of the bitcoin ETF issuers and whose trading business benefits from crypto price action, gained 5%. Microstrategy, which trades as a bitcoin proxy, was up 4%.

— Tanaya Macheel

The House Financial Services Committee now wants SEC Chair Gary Gensler to provide details on what led up to the regulator's X account posting a false social media post on bitcoin ETFs.

"To better understand how this breach occurred and how the SEC will ensure it cannot happen again, please provide a briefing to Committee staff no later than January 17, 2024," wrote committee chairman Patrick McHenry in a Jan. 10 letter to Gensler.

On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission's X account made a false post, saying that the regulatory agency had approved bitcoin ETFs for trading. The price of bitcoin initially spiked but then slid below $46,000.

The SEC said that its account had been compromised. Late Tuesday evening, X said that a preliminary investigation showed that "an unidentified individual" obtained control over a phone number associated with the SEC's account.

"This failure is unacceptable, and it is disturbing that your agency could not even meet the standard you require of private industry," McHenry said in his letter.

Read the letter here.

Ultimately, the SEC on Wednesday approved rule changes to allow bitcoin ETFs.

-Darla Mercado, Christina Wilkie

Approval of a rule change from the Securities and Exchange Commission that allows bitcoin exchange-traded funds to be made in the U.S. can shake up the crypto investing landscape, according to Rajeev Bamra, senior vice president of digital finance at Moody's Investors Service.

The rule has been closely watched because it can give regular investors access to crypto currency. Bamra said the change may prompt more interest from institutions, which can in turn help reduce volatility in the market.

"The approval of spot bitcoin ETFs by the SEC has the potential to simplify and secure Bitcoin investments for a broader investor base, which may reshape the dynamics of cryptocurrency investments," he said. "It could lead to substantial inflows from institutions interested in entering the cryptocurrency market as it may provide a reliable and transparent price discovery mechanism. This could result in a more stable and liquid crypto market, representing a positive development for the digital finance ecosystem."

Bamra noted that bitcoin and ether made crypto the best performing asset class in 2023. However, he said global monetary policy and the availability of crypto to institutional investors will help determine if that trend continues.

— Alex Harring

Stock futures were little changed on Wednesday, with Wall Street looking toward the December consumer price index report due out Thursday.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 26 points, or 0.06%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.04% while Nasdaq 100 futures ticked up 0.01%.

— Brian Evans