Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 150 points, or about 0.5%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 percent. Initial jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, in a possible sign that the labor market may be cooling amid tighter economic conditions. First-time claims for unemployment insurance in the US totaled 235,000 for the week ended July 2, up 4,000 from the prior week’s reading of 231,000 claims, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected the latest reading to be 230,000. The print comes ahead of the government’s monthly employment report for June due out on Friday. In other markets, Bed Bath & Beyond ( BBBY ) stock rose after news that its interim CEO bought shares, and GameStop ( GME ) stock rose more than 6% in pre-open after the video game retailer announced and of the late Wednesday meme-stock darling. that its board of directors approved a four-for-one stock split in the form of a dividend. Crude oil rose but remained hovering just below $100 a barrel after falling below that level for the first time since mid-May on Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond held steady at 2.9% after a slide from a decade high of more than 3.4% in mid-June. Thursday’s gains in futures trade followed three straight days of gains for the S&P 500. In the previous session, the benchmark closed up 0.4% — along with slight gains for the Dow and Nasdaq — after reading minutes from the June 14-15 Federal Reserve meeting that confirmed the US central bank has pledged to intervene as needed to rein in inflation. The story continues “Participants agreed that the economic outlook warranted a move to a more restrictive policy stance and acknowledged the possibility that an even more restrictive stance might be appropriate if elevated inflationary pressures persist,” the minutes of the meeting said. The officials also discussed concerns about the consolidation of inflation in the US economy and price stability that is becoming increasingly difficult to restore. American flags fly from the NYSE during Independence Day weekend on July 3, 2022 in New York. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) “Many participants felt that a major risk now facing the Commission was that elevated inflation could consolidate if the public began to question the Commission’s resolve to adjust the policy stance as warranted,” the minutes said. At the same time, concerns remain that a further rise in interest rates to reduce inflation could push the economy into recession, especially as key economic data such as consumer sentiment and spending, along with recent market managers’ indicators, have shown signs of loosening in most recent prints. The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank’s GDPNow model now estimates real GDP growth in the second quarter of 2022 at -2.1%, which would meet the unofficial threshold for a recession when combined with the 1.6% decline in the first quarter. The official reading for Q2 GDP is due on July 28. The Federal Reserve is “nervous that it might raise interest rates too quickly and start a recession,” Professor Austan Goolsbee said on Yahoo Finance Live at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business Economics on Wednesday. “That’s the tough balancing act that the Fed has been made tougher by the fact that this business cycle is nothing like a normal business cycle.” — Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including the events that move stocks Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn and YouTube
