US benchmark equity indexes closed mixed Thursday, as markets evaluated comments by two Federal Reserve officials and the latest quarterly earnings reports.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to 15,601.5, while the S&P 500 lost 0.2% to 5,011.1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 37,775.4. Technology and consumer discretionary led sector decliners, while communication services and utilities paced the gainers.
New York Fed President John Williams said he didn't "feel urgency" to lower interest rates given the strong state of the US economy, Reuters reported. "My expectation is, as inflation gets all the way to 2% on a sustained basis, as the economy is in good balance, interest rates will need to be lower at some point," he reportedly said.
Separately, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he expected inflation to return to the Federal Open Market Committee's 2% target more slowly than many had projected, Reuters reported. "For me, that's okay ... I'm not in a mad dash hurry to get there," Bostic reportedly said.
The US two-year yield jumped 5.8 basis points to 4.99%, while the 10-year rate added five basis points to 4.64%.
In company news, Equifax (EFX) shares slumped 8.5%, the second-worst performer on the S&P 500. Late Wednesday, the company reported first-quarter revenue that missed Wall Street's views.
Genuine Parts (GPC) was the top gainer on the S&P 500, up 11% after the company's first-quarter adjusted earnings and net sales rose year over year.
Alaska Air's (ALK) shares jumped 4% after the carrier posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss despite a $162 million hit tied to an incident involving one of its flights in January. The company issued an upbeat earnings outlook for the current three-month period.
Tesla (TSLA) shares shed 3.6%, the second-steepest decline on the Nasdaq. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy, saying the electric vehicle maker was highly likely to push out a low-cost Model 2 vehicle and shift its strategic priority to robotaxis.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.1% to $82.73 per barrel.
In economic news, US existing home sales fell more than projected last month while prices reached the highest level for the month of March, the National Association of Realtors said.
"Our baseline assumes a modest rise in home sales over the rest of 2024, but the risk to our forecast for sales is tilted to the downside, given the likelihood that the Federal Reserve does not start cutting interest rates until September," Oxford Economics said in a note.
Manufacturing activity in the US Mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly improved this month as demand and shipments grew, while firms expressed concern about rising costs, the Philadelphia Fed said.
Gold advanced 0.3% to $2,395.60 per ounce, while silver fell 0.2% to $28.36 per ounce.