Stock market today: Live updates

The producer price index jumped 0.9% on the month in July, marking its largest monthly gain since June 2022. Economists polled by Dow Jones had estimated a 0.2% gain.

Excluding food and energy prices, core PPI also rose 0.9% in July up from June. This was its largest gain since March 2022. Forecasts had called for a 0.3% uptick.

— Gina Francolla, Lisa Kailai Han

U.S. employers may be in a hiring slowdown, but there’s no evidence they’re firing many workers, either.

Initial jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 224,000 for the week ending Aug. 9, down 3,000 from the prior period, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 229,000.

The longer-term picture also looked slightly better.

Continuing claims, which run a week behind, slipped to 1.95 million, down 15,000 from the prior week. The measure had pretty consistently been running at highs not seen since November 2021.

—Jeff Cox

Check out some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading.

• Tapestry — The Coach New York and Kate Spade parent sank more than 10% after its full-year outlook missed analyst estimates. Tapestry forecast full-year earnings of $5.30 to $5.45 per share, while analysts polled by FactSet were looking for $5.49.
• Deere — The farm equipment maker dropped about 6% after Deere trimmed the top end of its full-year outlook. The Moline, Illinois-based manufacturer forecast net income of $4.75 billion to $5.25 billion, versus a previous forecast of $4.75 billion to $5.50 billion.
• Ibotta — The tech company plummeted more than 34% after second-quarter results missed analyst estimates. Ibotta earned 8 cents per share, below the 19 cents per share that analysts surveyed by LSEG estimated. Ibotta reported revenue of $86 million, below analysts’ forecast of $90.5 million.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

The producer price index, a measure of wholesale U.S. inflation, rose much more than expected in July — throwing some cold water on the notion that lower Federal Reserve rates later in the year are a guarantee.

PPI increased by 0.9% last month. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected PPI to increase by 0.2% month over month.

— Fred Imbert

Equities may have further upside from here, but investors should still be mindful of elevated volatility going forward, according to UBS.

“While the VIX index of implied stock volatility has fallen to the lowest level since December last year, market swings could pick up quickly if trade tensions escalate significantly, economic data weakens faster than expected, or if geopolitical risks worsen,” the bank wrote in a Wednesday note to clients. “Investors who are already allocated to equities in line with their strategic benchmarks should consider structured strategies with capital preservation features, while those underallocated should prepare to add exposure on potential market dips or consider a disciplined approach to phasing into stocks.”

UBS added that a “well-diversified portfolio” is suited for helping investors hedge against volatility while also setting them up for future gains.

— Lisa Kailai Han

While the market is now pricing in a 99.9% chance of a rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, Bank of America says that ultimately only one opinion matters: Powell’s.

“Market pricing of Fed cuts has been vindicated by dovish comments from a few FOMC members, including Cook and Daly, after the July jobs shock. But, in our view, Chair Powell’s view matters far more than anyone else’s,” wrote economist Aditya Bhave.

He continued: “In June 2022 (75bp hike) and September 2024 (50bp cut), Powell brought both markets and the majority of the FOMC around to his preferred policy stance. Lesson: doubt his force of will at your own peril.”

— Lisa Kailai Han

Deere shares fell more than 6% in the premarket after the agriculture equipment maker issued mixed guidance for the fiscal year.

The company expects net income of $4.75 billion to $5.25 billion. The top end of that range is below a prior guidance that showed net income coming in at around $5.5 billion.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly closed lower Thursday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped by 0.37% to close at 25,519.32, while mainland China’s CSI 300 index was flat at 4,173.31.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index closed flat at 3,225.66, while the small-cap Kosdaq ticked up 0.14% to 815.26.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark advanced 0.53% to 8,8738.80, after hitting an intra-day high earlier in the session.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark declined by 1.45% to end the day at 42,649.26, while the broader Topix index lost 1.1% to 3,057.95.

Over in India, the 50-stock benchmark Nifty 50 was up 0.12%, while the BSE Sensex index ticked up 0.11% as of 1:40 p.m. Indian Standard Time (4:10 a.m. ET).

— Amala Balakrishner

Crypto currencies bitcoin and ether continued to rally Wednesday night, benefiting from increased institutional interest and a more favorable regulatory environment.

Bitcoin hit a fresh all-time high of $123,693, according to Coin Metrics. Ether also pushed higher, getting ever-closer to its 2021 record. The price of ether, better known by its ticker ETH, was recently up 5.7% at 4,763.49.

Increased adoption of cryptocurrency also was reflected in the robust interest in the Bullish IPO on Wednesday. The crypto exchange nearly doubled in its debut. Shares opened at $90, or 143% above its IPO price of $37. The stock closed at $68, or an 84% first-day gain. In extended trading Wednesday evening, Bullish shares added another 12%.

— Christina Cheddar Berk

The outlook for gold mining stocks is finally brightening, with companies “starting to rebuild investor confidence/trust,” UBS analysts led by Daniel Major wrote Tuesday.

Looking ahead, “balance sheets are in great shape and if the gold price remains in the current range, we expect the run-rate of buybacks to accelerate in 2H25,” UBS wrote. Companies’ own internal growth projects will likely accelerate in the midst of long-term gold price assumptions that are increasing faster than cost or capital spending projections, resulting in better internal rates of return. Moreover, mergers and acquisitions are likely to heat up, the bank said.

As evidence, UBS pointed to recent outperformance after many years of underperformance for the miners. Gold stocks, represented by the VanEck Gold Miners ETF, have outperformed the price of gold by more than 40% so far in 2025, and by 15% in the past three months, when gold has done little. In the last 90 days, Gold Fields is up about 40% and AngloGold Ashanti by 30%, while Newmont Corp. is ahead 30% and Kinross Gold by 25%, the UBS report said.

Check out the stocks making moves in extended trading Wednesday:

• Cisco — The tech stock pulled back as much as 3% after its fourth-quarter results barely beat expectations. Cisco posted adjusted earnings of 99 cents per share on revenue of $14.67 billion in revenue, while analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for a profit of 98 cents per share and $14.62 billion in revenue. The company’s guidance also just barely surpassed expectations. Cisco stock is up almost 19% year to date.
• Ibotta — The stock plunged more than 23% on the heels of the tech company’s second-quarter results missing expectations. Ibotta reported earnings of 8 cents per share, below the 19 cents per share that analysts had anticipated. The company also saw its revenue for the quarter come in at $86 million, while analysts had estimated $90.5 million. Its third-quarter revenue guidance also came in weaker than expected.
• Coherent — Shares of the semiconductor manufacturer plummeted almost 18%. The company earned $1.00 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $1.53 billion, above the profit of 91 cents per share and revenue of $1.51 billion that analysts had penciled in, according to LSEG. It also announced that it is selling its aerospace and defense business to Advent for $400 million.

Read the full list of stocks here.

— Sean Conlon

U.S. stock futures traded just below the flatline on Wednesday evening.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% shortly after 6 p.m. ET, along with Nasdaq 100 futures. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 36 points, or about 0.1%.

— Sean Conlon