The S&P 500 rose Thursday, registering its best first-quarter performance in five years.
The broad market benchmark was up 0.11% to settle at 5,254.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 47.29 points, or 0.12%, and finished at 39,807.37. Both indexes closed at records, and the S&P 500 hit a fresh all-time high during the session. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.12% to end at 16,379.46.
For the quarter, the S&P 500 added 10.2% for its best first-quarter gain since 2019, when it rallied 13.1%. The 30-stock Dow advanced 5.6% during the period for its strongest first-quarter performance since 2021 when it jumped 7.4%. The Nasdaq ended the quarter with a 9.1% pop.
On the month, the S&P 500 was higher by 3.1%. The Nasdaq added 1.8% in March, while the Dow climbed 2.1%. It was the fifth straight winning month for all three major averages.
Driving the gains this quarter and month has been Nvidia, last year's market leader, as the artificial intelligence craze shows no signs of slowing. The stock soared 82.5% for the quarter and gained 14.2% in March alone.
On the economic front Thursday, initial filings for unemployment insurance for the week that ended March 16 came in at 210,000, slightly lower than the 211,000 that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had predicted.
"As we head into next week, the data gets a lot heavier, so we'll have more catalysts to drive things around, but I would say on balance, this has been the end to a really good month and a really good quarter and it's nice to finish up and head into the weekend on a super upbeat tone," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth.
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure — the personal consumption expenditures report — is due Friday morning. Though markets will be closed for Good Friday, the results of this reading could sway markets in the approaching week.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a fresh record on Thursday.
The broader market index rose 0.11% to settle at 5,254.35, cinching its best first-quarter since 2019. The 30-stock Dow rose 47.29 points, or 0.12% and settled at 39,807.37, bringing it a hair's breadth away from the 40,000 level. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, on the other hand, slipped 0.12% to finish at 16,379.46.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Oil prices rose more than $1 on Thursday and are on track for a third monthly gain.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for May gained $1.82, or 2.24%, to settle at $83.17 a barrel. The Brent contract for May, which expired Thursday, added $1.39, or 1.61%, to settle at $87.48 a barrel.
U.S. crude has risen 6.27% for the month while the global benchmark is up 4.62%.
Prices are rising on strong demand and lower supply. Morgan Stanley forecast a 400,000 barrels per day deficit in the second quarter and an 800,000 barrels per day deficit in the third quarter.
— Spencer Kimball
Piper Sandler is concerned consumer spending will take a hit as nervous consumers ramp up their savings. The Wall Street firm found that consumer liquid assets rose in the fourth quarter, a fourth straight quarter of increases, as labor market worries have workers stockpiling cash.
"Consumers are rebuilding their cash reserves, in response to an uncertain job market — an incremental headwind for spending," read a Thursday note from the firm's Nancy Lazar. "We expect this trend to continue, as labor market uncertainty intensifies."
— Sarah Min
Retail investors piled into stocks as the end of the first quarter neared, snapping up $3.5 billion in equities this past week, according to JPMorgan.
"At the single stock level, retail traders showed the strongest buying impulse in over a year," Peng Cheng, the firm's head of big data and artificial intelligence strategies, wrote in a note Wednesday.
"They reversed their previous bearish stance and bought NVDA aggressively (+$1.2B)," he added.
Nvidia, Tesla and Advanced Micro Devices received the largest retail inflows.
— Michelle Fox
Although there are indications that the technology and communication services sector are beginning to lag, this does not mean the market rally is losing steam, according to Strategas Research Partners. Signs of an under-the-surface rotation is "by no means" a negative sign, according to the firm.
"While in the near term it wouldn't surprise us if equity markets pulled back, history would suggest that it's too soon to fade equities," the firm wrote in a Thursday note.
The S&P 500 is currently up 27% from its October 2023 low. In the past 130 scenarios when the broad market index also rose 27% during a five-month period, only one was followed by a negative return 12 months later, according to Strategas.
— Hakyung Kim
Apple is tracking to end the quarter down more than 11%. But that does not mean underperformance will continue going forward.
CNBC Pro looked at historical data for what has happened to shares after significantly down quarters, as well as analyst expectations for where they see the stock going from here. Subscribers can click here to read the story.
— Alex Harring
Tesla shares are down around 29% in the first quarter, making the electric vehicle maker the S&P 500's worst-performing stock quarter to date. This marks Tesla's worst quarterly performance since the fourth quarter of 2022. The stock is now down 6.7% over the past 12 months, versus the S&P 500's 32% gain during the same period.
The EV manufacturer has been struggling with sluggish demand, pricing pressure and increased competition from Chinese competitors. The company is expected to release its first-quarter production and delivery numbers April 2.
— Hakyung Kim
The S&P 500 is on track to end a second straight quarter with a return of more than 10%, a first in more than a decade.
With just hours left in the trading quarter, the broad index is slated to finish higher by 10.1%. That marks a second straight quarter with double-digit returns, as the S&P 500 closed the last three months of 2023 up more than 11%.
The last time the index finished two consecutive quarters with gains of more than 10% in each period was 2012, according to data from Bespoke Investment Group. It has only happened seven times going back to 1945.
— Alex Harring
The Dow is on pace to finish the quarter up more than 5%, aided in part by several stocks seeing double-digit gains.
Disney has led the blue-chip index higher this quarter with a rally of more than 35%. Caterpillar, American Express, Merck and Travelers were also among the largest gainers, with all climbing more than 20%.
Amazon, JPMorgan, IBM, Walmart, Salesforce, Microsoft, Verizon, Procter & Gamble and Home Depot also saw advances of at least 10% during the three-month period.
Said another way, nearly half the 30 members in the index are tracking to end the quarter higher by more than 10%. In total, about two-thirds of the index was slated to end the three-month time period in the green.
But sizable losses from laggards mitigated some of those gains. Boeing was the worst performer in the index this quarter, dropping more than 26% amid its reputational crisis. Nike, Intel and Apple were the next-biggest losers, with each tumbling more than 10%.
— Alex Harring
Grindr, the dating platform focused on LGBTQ+ men, has started catching Wall Street's attention.
TD Cowen became the first firm to open coverage of the stock, which went public in late 2022, when it announced a buy rating on Thursday. Analyst John Blackledge said Grindr has a "first mover" advantage tied to the LGBTQ+ community.
Grindr's stock rose more than 2% during Thursday's session. Despite struggling after first coming to the market, shares surged more than 88% in 2023 and have added more than 13% so far in 2024.
Here is some of CNBC's previous reporting on the stock:
— Alex Harring
During Thursday's session, 82 stocks in the S&P 500 hit new 52-week highs. Of these names, several stocks also reached new all-time highs.
Here are some of the names that hit the latter milestone.
— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes
Here are some of the names moving during midday trading.
To see more stocks making moves, read the full story here.
— Michelle Fox
The Nasdaq Composite is headed for another winning quarter, with the tech-heavy index on pace for a 9.3% gain thanks to the ongoing surge in popular artificial intelligence-connected stocks.
Nvidia is the top performer in the concentrated Nasdaq-100. It is headed for an 83% quarterly gain and its best quarter since last year. Micron Technology and Meta Platforms have rallied more than 38% each, while ASML Holding is up about 28%.
Other notable technology winners include CrowdStrike, Netflix and Advanced Micro Devices, which have risen at least 23% year to date. DoorDash has jumped more than 40%.
The list of top performers also includes a handful of names outside the technology world. Constellation Energy is the second-best performer, with a 58% gain. Diamondback Energy shares have skyrocketed more than 27%.
Atlassian is the worst performer in the index and on pace for an 18% quarterly loss.
— Samantha Subin
All sectors in the S&P 500 are set to end March in positive territory.
Energy stocks were the clear outperformer this month for the S&P 500. The sector, up nearly 10% this month, was next followed by the materials and utilities sectors, having respectively gained 6% and 5.9%.
The worst-performing sector in the S&P 500 was consumer discretionary names, down nearly 1% this month.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Thursday's session will be driven by both quarter-end rebalancing and the rolling of JPMorgan's collar trade strategy, according to Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments.
This JPMorgan strategy will offer around $7 billion or $8 billion worth of stocks up for sale. For now, investors are lying in wait for these big trades to clear.
This, "especially when combined with what we think is probably some rebalancing pressure that's likely to come at some point during the day, is leading folks to be really hesitant to go out and be aggressively bidding stocks this morning," he told CNBC. "There will be continued buying after those trades clear, so you might see a late-day ramp-up if they do this thing around noontime as folks prepare for next quarter, but it's really going to be very quiet until that trade clears."
— Lisa Kailai Han
Consumer sentiment in March unexpectedly jumped to 79.4, reaching the best level since July 2021, as optimism about the economic outlook continues to grow. The reading, from the University of Michigan's latest Consumer Sentiment Index, topped consensus estimates of 76.5.
The index in February had indicated a reading of 76.9.
— Pia Singh
Home Depot's plans to acquire SRS Distribution is a "modest strategic positive," according to Morgan Stanley, that could add about $10 billion in sales for the company and shows the consolidation potential in the pro market in home improvement, though the market reaction could be mixed.
"While the $18 billion enterprise purchase price is relatively small (4%) as a percent of HD's enterprise value, HD is paying a premium for this business (dilutive including amortization), it creates modest execution risk at a time in which many HD investors are looking forward to an inflection in the housing cycle, and it will inevitably raise questions on how quickly HD's pro/complex pro strategy is materializing," Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman said in a note. "Still, the deal is accretive to EPS ex-amortization, HD has a stellar long-term track record of execution, and it provides more operating leverage to an impending housing recovery."
Home Depot on Thursday said it is acquiring SRS Distribution in an $18.25 billion deal, as part of its efforts to win more business from contractors, roofers and other home professionals. The acquisition is the largest in Home Depot's history.
The shares were down 1% during morning trading.
— Tanaya Macheel
UBS believes the tech rally has more room to run, meaning investors should make sure they have some exposure to the sector. However, they should "optimize" their holdings among tech names, according to the investment bank.
"Investors should avoid missing further potential gains in tech, while ensuring diversification and considering ways to limit losses in case of consolidation," strategist Sagar Khandelwal wrote in a note on March 22.
Khandelwal recommends diversifying tech exposure across regions and sectors, as well as having structured strategies to potentially defend against a near-term correction.
— Hakyung Kim
Stocks opened flat on the last trading day of the month and quarter.
The S&P 500 opened unchanged, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 70 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.3%.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Weekly jobless claims came in lower than expected for the week ending March 16, 2024.
Initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled 210,000. This was slightly lower than the 211,000 that economists polled by the Dow Jones expected.
— Lisa Kailai Han