S&P 500 Eyes Sixth Green Session, Tesla Tumbles, Oil At 2-Month High: What’s Driving Markets Thursday?

The U.S. stock market is poised for its sixth consecutive day of gains, with investor confidence remaining high due to better-than-expected economic growth and expectations for an inflation slowdown.

In the last quarter of 2023, the U.S. economy grew at a 3.3% annualized pace, significantly above the 2% growth economists expected. Other economic data released Thursday revealed a more mixed picture, with durable goods orders stagnating in December and unemployment claims ticking up more than expected last week.

Market-implied expectations on Fed interest rates remain broadly unchanged, with investors assigning a 56% chance of no change in March, followed by six straight cuts by December.

The dollar gained 0.4%, driven by weaknesses in the euro as the European Central Bank flagged recessionary risks.

Treasury yields were mostly lower by about 4 basis points, bringing gains in the fixed-income space. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) was 0.6% higher.

Oil prices rose …

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