Stocks Barely Budge as End of Quarter Nears
Stock trading was muted Thursday as the end of the quarter neared.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was waffling up and down around 11 a.m. ET. It was recently down 19 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 was up 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite was hovering around break-even.
The Dow is on track for its best first quarter since 2021, while the S&P 500 was on track for its best first quarter since 2019. The Nasdaq Composite was having a stellar quarter, but it couldn’t match the first quarter of 2023’s blowout performance.
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose to 79.4 in March, up from a preliminary reading of 76.5. Year-end inflation expectations were down to 2.9% from 3% last month. Long-run inflation expectations were down to 2.8% from 2.9%.
Fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth was revised up to 3.4% from a previous reading of 3.2%.
Managers looking to reallocate their positions before the end of the quarter could be adding noise to Thursday’s session. The stock market is closed for Good Friday. But Wall Street will still keep an eye on the latest personal consumption expenditures price index that will be released on Friday.