Stock Market Today: Live Updates

the Standard & Poor's 500 It rose on Thursday, recording its best first-quarter performance in five years.

The general market index rose by 0.11% to settle at 5254.35. the Dow Jones Industrial Average It added 47.29 points, or 0.12%, and closed at 39,807.37 points. Both indexes closed at record levels, with the S&P 500 hitting an all-time high during the session. the Nasdaq Composite It fell by 0.12% to close at 16379.46.

For the quarter, the S&P 500 added 10.2% for its best first-quarter gain since 2019, when it rose 13.1%. The 30-stock Dow Jones advanced 5.6% during the period, posting its strongest first-quarter performance since 2021 when it jumped 7.4%. The Nasdaq ended the quarter up 9.1%.

On a monthly basis, the S&P 500 rose 3.1%. The Nasdaq rose 1.8% in March, while the Dow Jones rose 2.1%. This was the fifth consecutive month of wins for all three major averages.

It has been driving gains this quarter and month Nvidia, the market leader last year, as the AI ​​craze shows no signs of slowing down. The stock rose 82.5% during the quarter and was up 14.2% in March alone.

On the economic front Thursday, initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending March 16 came to 210,000, slightly below the 211,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had expected.

“As we get into next week, the data gets a lot heavier, so we'll have more catalysts to push things along, but I would say overall, this was the end of a really good month and a really good quarter,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley. Wealth: “It's good to finish and head into the weekend on a very upbeat note.”

The Fed's preferred measure of inflation – the personal consumption expenditures report – is scheduled for release on Friday morning. Although the markets will be closed on the occasion of Good Friday, the results of this reading may affect the markets next week.