Stocks opened higher on Thursday and the S&P 500 hit its latest record.

The broad market index rose 0.68%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 249 points, or 0.58%.

— Brian Evans

A number of economic data on Thursday morning were in line with or slightly above market expectations, reinforcing the assumption that the macroeconomic situation in the US is stable:

• Initial jobless claims totaled 218,000 for the week ended Sept. 21, down 4,000 from the previous quarter and slightly better than the Dow Jones forecast of 223,000. Continuing claims, which lag a week, rose to 1.834 million, just below the FactSet forecast.
• Orders for durable goods such as aircraft, appliances and computers were little changed in August, above estimates of a 3% decline.
• According to the latest of three figures from the Commerce Department, gross domestic product rose 3 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, in line with market expectations.

—Jeff Cox

Look at the companies that are making headlines before the stock market opens.

Starbucks – The coffee chain rose more than 2% after Bernstein upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “market perform” as the company is optimistic about new CEO Brian Niccol, who took office on Sept. 9.

New York Community Bancorp – Shares of the regional lender rose more than 4% after Barclays upgraded its stock to overweight to reposition itself after a difficult period.

Micron Technology, chip stocks – Shares of Micron rose nearly 17% after the company issued stronger-than-expected revenue guidance for its fiscal first quarter. Other chip stocks also rose in lockstep Thursday morning. Nvidia rose 2%, while U.S.-traded shares of ASML Holding gained nearly 5%.

— Hakyung Kim

The Federal Reserve’s interest rate cutting cycle is expected to have a positive impact on U.S. stocks and the domestic economy, according to Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

“We expect this series of rate cuts to lead to broader market opportunities over the next year,” Scott Wren, the firm’s chief global market strategist, said in a note to clients on Wednesday. “While we expect the economy to moderate to a more moderate pace by year-end, our base case does not include a recession.”

According to Wren, central bankers could cut interest rates by 200 basis points or more by the end of next year. In that scenario, the strategist said, he would continue to favor high-quality domestic large-cap stocks over riskier small-cap stocks and U.S. stocks over international stocks. On the international front, he would prefer developed international companies over emerging markets.

Wren added that despite his current views, he is aware of potential risks to U.S. economic growth, such as the upcoming presidential election and rising tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine.

— Pia Singh

Some of the provisions in former President Donald Trump’s trade plans, such as high tariffs on Chinese imports, could ultimately fuel inflation, according to Piper Sandler.

“Trump’s trade policies would lead to higher inflation and slower economic growth, but tariffs would likely focus on intermediate goods rather than consumer goods,” analyst Andy Laperriere wrote on Thursday.

“Harris’ (tax) policy of phasing out the 2017 tax reforms and pursuing an expansion of the child tax credit (among other expansions of the social safety net) would hurt upper-income consumers and provide a tailwind for lower- and middle-income consumers,” the analyst added.

— Brian Evans

Chinese equity ETFs rallied premarket after officials held a meeting to reiterate government efforts to stimulate China’s economy. iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) and the iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) each rose by more than 6%.

“China continues to dominate the headlines with its stimulus measures,” wrote traders at JPMorgan. “In the short term, the tactical rally may continue as (1) The magnitude of the current rally is just
half of what we have seen in terms of “trading risk-on” episodes in China in recent years, and (2) the flood of positive news is likely to continue next month as further announcements of monetary easing are trickled into the market.”

— Fred Imbert

European stocks opened sharply higher on Thursday, boosted by overnight gains in Asia-Pacific markets.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose around 1 percent in morning trading, with almost all sectors in positive territory.

— Sam Meredith

The odds may be against it NVIDIA when it comes to investments, says Aswath Damodaran of New York University.

“With Nvidia, the odds are stacked against you because the price is what you pay,” the “Dean of Valuation” told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday. During Wednesday’s session, Nvidia shares rose more than 2% to close at $123.51, surpassing its $3 trillion market cap.

“Nvidia is the perfect momentum bet either way,” he continued, saying that’s because it has nothing to do with the fundamentals or the situation of the company. “If you’re a trader, I can understand why Nvidia is going to be where you’re going, but as an investor, I think the odds are worst on Nvidia.”

Damodaran believes that expectations for the chip darling will ultimately have to be “reset.”

“They’ve labeled this company as the most amazing company ever,” he said. “Where’s the upside? If it’s just amazing and not the most amazing company, that’s a disappointment. So I think you’re going to see a back and forth on expectations on that front.”

— Sean Conlon

These are the stocks with the strongest price movements in after-hours trading:

• Micron Technology – The semiconductor maker rose 13% after issuing strong guidance for the current quarter.
• HB Fuller – The adhesives maker fell nearly 10%. HB Fuller’s adjusted earnings in the third fiscal quarter were $1.13 per share on revenue of $918 million.
• Concentrix – Shares fell 14%. The customer experience solutions company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.87 per share, while analysts were expecting $2.93 per share, according to FactSet.

The complete list of moved stocks can be found here.

— Lisa Kailai Han