Wall Street closed mixed on Thursday after a choppy session. Hotter-than-expected inflation data weakened market participants’ sentiment. However, strong second-quarter earnings results recovered investors’ confidence to some extent. Movement of stocks was tepid in either direction. The Dow and the Nasdaq Composite ended in negative territory while the S&P 500 managed to gain marginally.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 11.01 points to close at 44,911.26. Notably, 18 components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory and 12 finished in positive territory. At the intraday low, the blue-chip index was down nearly 232 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 21,710.67, decreasing a mere 2.47 points due to the weak performance of technology stocks. The S&P 500 advanced just 2 points to finish at 6,468.54, marking a new closing high for the index. 

Out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, eight ended in negative territory, and three in positive territory. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI), and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) fell 1%, 0.9% and 0.9%, respectively. 

The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 2.4% to 14.83. A total of 16.3 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 18.3 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 2.29-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 2.14-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.

Hot Inflation Data

The Department of Labor reported that the producer price index (PPI) for July rose 0.9%, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0.2%. The metric for June was 0%. This marked the highest monthly increase in PPI since June 2022. Year over year, the headline PPI rose 3.3% in July, its highest annual increase since February. 

Core PPI (excluding volatile food and energy items) also increased 0.9% in July, higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0.3%. A more restricted version of core PPI (excluding volatile food, energy and trade services items) rose 0.6% in July, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0.3%. The metric for June was revised downward to 0.2% from 0.3% reported earlier. Year over year, core PPI increased 3.3% in July, its highest annual rise since February.

Strong Q2 Earnings Results

Weibo Corp. (WB Quick QuoteWB - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $0.54, significantly above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.27. The company posted quarterly revenues of $444.80 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $444.13 million. 

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (VIPS Quick QuoteVIPS - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $0.57, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.56. The company recorded quarterly revenues of $3,602.43 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,589.91 million. 

Equinox Gold Corp. (EQX Quick QuoteEQX - Free Report) came up with second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $0.11, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.02. The company recorded quarterly revenues of $478.64 million. 

Consequently, the stock prices of Weibo, Vipshop Holdings and Equinox Gold jumped 11.3%, 5.9% and 15.2%, respectively. Vipshop currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Economic Data

The Department of Labor reported that initial claims decreased 3,000 to 224,000 for the week ended Aug. 9, lower-than the consensus estimate of 229,000. Previous week’s data was revised upward to 227,000 from 226,000 reported earlier. Continuing claims (those who have already received government aids and reported a week behind) decreased 15,000 to 1.953 million. The previous week’s data was revised downward by 6,000 to 1.968 million.