The Dow briefly hit a historic milestone on Thursday, crossing the 40,000 threshold for the first time as investors keep rate cut hopes alive.
Stocks finished lower on Thursday, with indexes giving back gains from earlier in the day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 40,000 for the first time during the session.
The Dow failed to close above the key threshold, and the S&P 500 struggled to consolidate gains after hitting a record close on Wednesday. Markets were feeling upbeat after Wednesday's consumer price index data showed inflation rising at a slower pace in April, but some Federal Reserve speakers indicated on Thursday that there was still no rush to lower interest rates.
Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin pointed to sticky services sector inflation, while earlier in the day New York Fed President John Williams told Reuters that he believes policy is "in a good place."
"To get to 2% sustainably in the right kind of way, I just think it's going to take a little bit more time," Barkin told CNBC.
Broadly, the Fed speakers on Thursday painted a picture of a central bank in no hurry to pivot as inflation remains above its 2% target. Rate cut bets were little changed on Thursday, with the market still seeing the strongest odds for the first cut in September.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. closing bell on Thursday:
Here's what else is going on today:
In commodities, bonds, and crypto: