Wall Street Stalls Near Record Highs

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The broad S&P 500 paused near record highs on Thursday after posting a solid rally in the last session.

Today's Markets

As of 12:20 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 19.4 points, or 0.12%, to 16886, the S&P 500 declined 0.87 point, or 0.04%, to 1956 and the Nadaq Composite slumped 8.2 points, or 0.19%, to 4355.

Dovish remarks from the Federal Reserve, at least temporarily, ignited some optimism on Wall Street. The broad S&P 500 climbed the most since late May and set a new record high.

There are two reports on the economic calendar that traders will paid close attention to.

The Labor Department said the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits fell last week to 312,000 from an upwardly revised 318,000 the week prior. Wall Street expected claims to fall to 314,000 from an initially reported 317,000.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s gauge of manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region rose to 17.8 in June from 15.4 in May, surpassing Wall Street expectations for a fall to 14. The reading was the highest since September.

On the corporate front, BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) shares rallied as the recovering smartphone maker posted a narrower-than-expected adjusted quarterly loss.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures rose 27 cents, or 0.25%, to $106.24 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline gained 0.59% to $3.116 a gallon. Gold advanced $9.60, or 0.75%, to $1,282 a troy ounce.