US stocks could not reach new records on Thursday, despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) touching 40,000 for the first time ever.

The Dow finished the day down 0.1%, closing at 39,869 after briefly surpassing its new price milestone earlier in the session. The techheavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell about 0.3%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped around 0.2%. The S&P closed just below 5,300 after eclipsing that number for the first time on Wednesday.

Earlier on Thursday, three Fed officials — Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, New York Fed President John Williams and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin — warned of higherforlonger interest rates while speaking at separate events. That commentary appeared to take the wind out of stocks' recent rally.

"Holding our restrictive stance for longer is prudent at this point as we gain clarity about the path of inflation," Mester said at an event in Wooster, Ohio.

Stocks rallied on Wednesday after new data showed signs of cooling inflation, which spurred bets on a Federal Reserve rate cut in September. All three major indexes closed at record highs as a result.

Investors also jumped into bonds, sending the 10year Treasury yield (^TNX) down near onemonth lows at around 4.33%. On Thursday, yields ticked about 2 basis points higher with the 10year trading around 4.38%.

On the corporate front, Walmart (WMT) posted quarterly profits, revenue, and samestore sales that beat Wall Street estimates. Shares of the US retail giant finished the day up more than 7%.

Meanwhile, a mystery was solved as Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BKRB) revealed it has taken a $6.7 billion stake in Chubb (CB). The disclosure ended months of suspense over a position kept concealed in regulatory filings. The insurer's shares closed about 5% higher on Thursday.

#stocks #inflation #YahooFinance #recession #bitcoin #Biden #Stockmarket #coronavirus #memestocks #Fed #YahooFinance #investing #stockmarket #crypto

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock...